The Trade Union Act of 1926 arose out of five years of sustained pressure from the labor movement | Photo credit: Getty Images
IIn 1918, Bahman Pestonji Wadia founded the Madras Trade Union, India’s first trade union with full membership and a relief fund, which was set up to address what he called the “mistreatment of workers” by European officials. The union he helped to build was, in the eyes of British common law, a conspiracy to restrict trade.
In 1921, the Madras court assessed a price for the act of organizing workers against unfair working conditions. £2,000 was awarded against Wadia and fellow trade unionists for leading a strike against Buckingham and Carnatic Mills. Management agreed to waive the payment on the condition that Wadia cut all ties with the union he had built. There was no law to protect him. The trade unionists complied.
Published – 01 May 2026 08:30 IST
