Indian Industrial Relations Law : Case for Reform

Indian labor laws were conceived in the pre-independence period or shortly afterwards based on an import-substitution and statist model of economic development. They were premised on adversarial IR assumptions, social justice and industrial peace. The paradigm is shifting towards global competition, productivity, efficiency and mutual cooperation.IR is giving way to employee relations. This paper examines the way the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, the Trade Unions Act 1926, and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 have been working and to what effect. It discusses a broad framework of changes that need to be effected in them so as to be aligned with the contemporary global and Indian economic realities.