BHARATIYA MAZDOOR SANGH

The circumstances in which BHARATIYA MAZDOOR SANGH (BMS) came into existence in the trade union field of India have shaped its significant role in the trade union movement.

BMS was founded on 23rd of July, 1955 – the day being the birth anniversary of Lok Manya Bal Gangadhar Tilak – veteran of Freedom Movement. Two important aspects stand out in connection with this:

(a)         Formation of BMS was not the result of split in the existing trade union organisations, unlike in the case of almost all other trade unions. Hence it had the formidable responsibility of building its organisational structure from the grass root level. It started from zero having no trade union, no membership, no activist (karyakarta), no office and no fund.

(b)          On the very first day it was visualised as a trade union whose base-sheet anchors – would be Nationalism, would work as a genuine trade union, keeping itself scrupulously away from party politics. This was also unlike other trade unions which were linked to one or the other political party, overtly or otherwise.

Dawn of BMS, therefore, can be truly described as watershed in the course of trade union field.