Jamshedpur and Pullman: The Paradox of Ideal Company Towns

However, these bustees and slums did not have access to the company owned utility and community services in the town, as they were not originally a part of its planning. Further, the division of the company town ignored the need for accommodation of the unskilled employees. Between 1991-2001, the urban agglomeration witnessed a growth of more than 36%, with 25–30% of the population lacking access to basic utility services such as water and sewerage.The inability to incorporate these bustees into their schemes or to control their proliferation has led to the removal of 86 bustees from the lease and their transfer to the government since 2002. Alongside that, workers who lived in temporary settlements near the factories and mines were severely affected by the coal dust and smoke (Sinha, 2011).
 

​In the past century, multiple architects and town developers have suggested various methods and techniques to accommodate the ever growning population of Jamshedpur town. Initially built on 3,564 acres of land acquired by Tata Steel in 1907, it has been redeveloped to host a bigger population. Post World War I, Tata Steel attained another 18,215 acres to accommodate the increasing demand and the town, originally built to cater to only 10,000 people.

In the early and mid 20th century, multiple strikes were organised as labourers working for Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) felt that higher executives received more benefits while they got the shorter end of the stick which led to unionisation of labourers. TISCO prided itself in being one of the first companies to introduce labour welfare measures including free medical aid, leave with pay, workers provident fund, and accident compensation. However, more often than not, the workers had to struggle for the concessions at various different occasions. Compensations and fair wages are necessary in the steel industry due to the hazardous nature of the job, and became increasingly more important with modernisation of the steel plants when the number of accidents in the plants increased from 600 in 1921 to 1700 in 1926. The difficulty in attaining these benefits was a major dissastisfactor for TISCO labourers.

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Post World War I, when the TISCO management saw immense scope for expansion of production, the number of mills were increased from 6 to 12, and this expansion was called the “Great Extension”. During the expansion, the number of workers increased from around 11,000 in 1917-1918 to more than 30,000 in 1923-24. Post 1924, the working population drastically fell to 18,113; except for a few mills that underwent expansion, most mills showed a decrease in the number of workers required. Additionally, with the advent of mordernisation, more capital intensive techniques of production were adopted and intensified division of labour was practiced. The increased requirement of skilled workers went hand-in-hand with a reduced need for unskilled labour. Although the cost of living had almost doubled between 1920-28, the wages hardly increased. Most categories of workers got paid around INR 20 per month, whereas the average monthly pay of European employees was around INR 650. On the other end of the pay scale, the American General Managers including T. W. Tutwiller (1916-1923), C. A. Alexander (1924-1929), J. A. Keenan (1930-1937), and others were paid INR 7,500 every month (Bahl, 1982).

Such comparison of Indian and European workers wages is necessary, as with the involvement of nationalist leaders, TISCO had claimed that the company did not have enough funds to to increase the wages of the Indian workers. However, at the same time, the wages received by the foreign employees were much greater than a regular Indian worker. Up until 1938, important managerial positions were held by foreign employees and the 500 English workers were rewarded with various extra payments, which were not given to Indian workers, as it was deemed not beneficial for the company (Bahl, 1982).

Dissatisfaction and stagnation in wage rates led workers to initiate several strikes. Despite the lack of centralised leadership and the workforces diverse composition, they eventually united under the Jamshedpur Labour Association (JLA) when Congress member S. N. Haldar was approached to lead the movement. Between 1920 and 1928, even after multiple labour strikes and the involvement of various nationalist leaders, the goal of wage increases was unachieved, and workforce reductions continued due to company restructuring. The settlement between the company and the JLA led to minor adjustments in the workforce reorganisation scheme but it remained intact. By the end of the strikes, the labour unions split into two, with the JLA’s inclination towards management, and the newly formed Jamshedpur Labour Federation (JLF) garnered the support of 75% of the workers as most of them had no confidence in JLA. This was largely due to the non-strike approach that JLA advocated for, once it had formed ties with TISCO and the lack of freedom given to the workers in choosing their own leader.

The 1898 verdict had its origins in the proceedings that began in 1894 from thePullman strike that condemned Pullman's paternalism.The verdict declared the town to be in violation of corporate privelages and the Pullman charter.

The reason for Pullman’s failure and Jamshedpur’s continued existence lies in the contrast between their social and political environment. The failure of Pullman was due to its own extreme policies. George Pullman’s “wisely administered” paternalism was so stringent that it infringed upon any type of liberty a person could have. The support Pullman workers got from ARU was crucial in implementing the strike. George M. Pullman was the influence in Pullman town that resisted the forces working against the interests of the town and the company. With his death in 1897 the prominent defender of the experiment of Pullman town was gone. Later, in 1898, the company accepted the verdict of the State Supreme Court ordering the dissoloution of the town and by 1907 Pullman’s existence as a community seperate from Chicago was officially terminated. The 1898 verdict had its origins in the proceedings that began in 1894 from the Pullman strike that condemned Pullman’s paternalism. The verdict declared the town to be in violation of corporate privelages and the Pullman charter.