The questioner has not come forward so far to frankly present the actual reasons for the present development as well as additional important details such as the age of the industrial establishment and the nature of its manufactory, total strength of permanent workmen and their average age, the number of contract labour and casuals engaged and the nature of activities of such indirect engagement, existence of any union in the establishment, in the absence of any trade union, the practice of determination of monetary benefits such as wages, bonus and periodicity of their revision followed all along, the welfare amenities provided to the workmen, the system of grievance redressal put in place,the system of disciplinary control in vogue and its impact on work culture and bilateral relations and the like. Without knowing all these things, the advise tendered by the learned members - some of whom do seem to have bitter past experience in this regard and some others have an artificial sense of gratification by applying the principles of situational management dictated by sheer common sense - looks like directing the sailor to steer fast across the tip of an ice-berg. Employment, in its narrowest sense, is a means of livelihood.So, people who let themselves under the disposal of the employer come to earn their livelihood rather to fight against him. Still, if fight or conflict arises means that either of them or at times both may be greedy and inconsiderate. Therefore, it is imperative for the questioner's top-management to make some dispassionate introspection into the entire goings-on and find out whether the agitative mind-set is confined to a particular section because of any specific adversity pertaining only to it or to the entire workforce and take remedial measures to set things right. Trade Unions are everywhere. Can any one cite any country or economy sans Trade Union? Of course its effective role-play is getting gradually diluted in the era of Globalisation and Privatisation. But, it does not mean that Trade Union is an obstacle to progress if the progress is not a lop-sided one. When the employer has the magnanimity to accept his labour as one of the stakeholders of his industry and the honesty to address their concern transparently, he will recognize the Trade Union as a parallel Institution for conflict resolution.So, the management should not be unnecessarily scared of the Union Leaders whether external or otherwise for they are not from an alien planet and they are aware of the limits of elasticity of concessions that can be granted by the management.If experience with any Trade Union is bitter in the matter of conflict resolution, the pointers will certainly lead to extraneous reasons like politics, intellectual arrogance, personal hidden agenda etc,. One friend pointed out that our Labour Laws are obstacles to progress.I am not able to understand how he has come to such a drastic conclusion. If the provisions of some of the Laws are highly regulatory and prohibitive, it is only because the circumstances prevailing then. Can any one say such circumstances of exploitation in the forms of indirect employment for years together as trainees or off-roll employees or fixed term appontments, closing the places of employment in a particular location suddenly with a simple notice of " suspension of operations"and starting a fresh one elsewhere with residential apprentices and residual casual labour on pittance wages, outsourcing the major chunk of workforce under the guise of contract labour whose speciality is that the labour will be the same but the contractors would change in rotation, framing wage structures in such a way that the liability of the employer would be minimal in terms of terminal benefits of the employees and so on so forth. In such sordid state of affairs involving questions of law, ecnomics and ethics, I don't understand how one can decry the representation of outsiders in Trade Union.If the employer's attitude and response are the sum product of probity,fairness and concern for the employees' welfare in tandem with the industry's future backed by his business acumen, no union would dare to betray him.Mr.Mohli, don't try to indirectly float a rival union in support of the management for class consciousness can not be so easily eliminated. It would be similar to that of a young bachelor being scared of the torments of family life becoming a sanyasin and then running an ashram and orphanage.