I was the adoring son of a Welsh-Irish father, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, a Catholic Knight of Columbus who was a blue-collar, trade union organizer and, not surprisingly, a fervid Nixon-hater.

On completion of my military service, I went back to the factory and to the trade union.

There is no doubt that this government and this country are benefiting from the reforms that we brought in the 1980s, and that couldn't have been done without the co-operation of the trade union movement.

When I came back to India after Harvard Business School, I started as a lawyer and as a trade union leader.

Both France and Britain are supportive of India's bid for a broad-based agreement on trade and investment with the European Union.

The trade union movement represents the organized economic power of the workers... It is in reality the most potent and the most direct social insurance the workers can establish.