Right To Strike In India: Fundamental Freedom Or Statutory Privilege?
Melanie Veera Saldanha, VIT Chennai
ABSTRACT
The debate regarding the nature of the right to strike in India, whether it can be considered a fundamental right or just a statutory right, is an issue between constitutional law and industrial relations as well as international labour laws. The Constitution of India provides for the freedom of association and formation of unions in Article 19(1)(c), but does not mention anything about the right to strike. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provided provisions for and regulated the strike, while the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 provides the same provisions as that Act. The Supreme Court has consistently maintained that there is no fundamental right to strike from All India Bank Employees' Association, 1962 to T.K. Rangarajan, 2003.
The research paper deals with the historical background of the concept of the strike, examines the doctrine of constitutionality against Articles 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b), 19(1)(c) and 21 as well as the Directive Principles of State Policy, analyses the statutory scheme as well as the judicial rulings, and draws a comparison between the Indian position and international labour laws and the law of the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The present study attempts to argue that the right to strike in India is legally a conditional statutory right and not a fundamental right; however, the right is not simply a privilege, since it is based on the constitutional principle of associational freedom, the international obligations of India and the rationale of collective bargaining, and the regulation of the right itself must conform to constitutional reasonableness.
