The Industrial Project and Organised Labour

This paper looks at the responses of organised labour to the “development” project exemplified by the steel plant, the big dam and the power plant. More precisely, it analyses the presence (or not) of an ecological critique in trade union/labour responses to industrial projects. The paper explores theoretical connections between class-based politics and ecological questions. It delineates some of the specific processes and conditions which can facilitate the entry of ecological issues into the imaginations of a trade union, using the experiences of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha in central India in the process. It argues that “class consciousness” is hardly a deterrent for an engagement with ecology, if one adequately understands the definitions of “class,” labour and production. In India’s specific context, the coming together of the concerns and imaginations of the industrial worker and the Adivasi peasant/farmer can facilitate this conversation between “red” and “green” imaginations.