Laboured Progress

The year, 1988. The total number of work days lost due to strikes and lockouts in Maharashtra was close to 65 lakh. Less than a decade later in 1995, the figure has nearly halved to around 33 lakh days. For the same period, the number of lockouts in the state has come down almost 53 per cent and the total number of strikes by more than 35 per cent.

Going by the numbers, peace is here to stay in the states industrial relations. More and more workers are talking to their employers rather than boycotting the shopfloor for every demand. Says Rajan Tungare, professor with the Maharashtra Institute of Labour Studies: