Trade Union
Trade Union
Trade Union
Trade unions are a major component of the modern industrial relations system. A Trade
union of workers is an organization formed by workers to protect their interests, improve
their working conditions, etc. All Trade unions have objectives or goals to achieve, which
are contained in their constitution, and each has its own strategy to reach those goals.
Trade unions are now considered a sub-system, which seeks to serve the specific interest
(i.e. the workers’) and also considers itself a part of the organization, in terms of the
latter’s viability and contribution to the growth of the community of which it is a part.
Section 2(h) of the Trade Unions Act, 1926 has defined a trade union as:
“Any combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of
regulating the relations between workmen and employers, or between workmen and
workmen, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on
the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or more trade
unions.”
• Workers found it more advantageous to band together and seek to establish their
terms and conditions of employment.
• Since a group’s contribution is much larger than an individual’s, so are the effects
of withdrawal.
• Also, an individual may not be able to organize and defend his interests as well as
a group can.
• Employers also found it advantageous to deal with a group or a representative of a
group rather than go through the process of dealing with each individual over a
length of time.
With the changed political, social and educational environment in terms of awareness
of rights-the right to organize, the right to bargain, and settle terms and conditions of
employment-labour or worker unions sprang up in order to protect and further worker
interests. Additionally, the influence of political parties interested in acquiring a
foothold in the labour movement also provided the impetus for the formation of
labour unions.
Historical Evolution Of Trade Unions In India
In India the foundation of modern industry was laid between 1850 and 1870.this was also
the period of emergence of the Indian Working class.
Indian enterprises started growing side by side with the British ones in all spheres of the
national economy. During this period of the growth of the Indian capitalist enterprises,
the working and living conditions of the labour were poor and their working hours were
long, wages were low, and the general economic condition was poor in industries. This
was testified by commissions like the Indian Factory Labour Commission (1908) and the
Royal Commission of Labour (1931).
In order to regulate the working hours and other service conditions of the Indian textile
laborers, the Indian Factories Act was enacted in 1881. Another Factor whish provided
the background for Indian trade union movement was the birth of Indian National
congress in 1885.
• This period witnessed growth of industries as well exploitation of women and child
labour and unhealthy work conditions.
• Conditions were taking a bad shape as days passed by but there was no sign of
opposition from the side of workers.
• In addition to it there was no attempt at obtaining redress through concerted effort.
• The labour movement in India began around 1850. Few enactments which marked the
beginning of trade unions movement in India are:
• The year 1918 holds significance for Indian Trade Unions Movements.
• It was the year when leadership of trade unions passed from hands of social
workers to the hands of politicians.
• Various political; leaders were also actively involved in the activities of trade
unions, some key figures are C.R Das, Moti Lal Nehru, J.L Nehru, S.C Bose.
• However, unions formed suffered from various limitations, they had little
continuity and there major interests lied on wage increment.
2-AITUF, All India Trade Unions Federation, led by congress nationalists and moderates.
• In India, in the earliest stages, the general pattern of union was the plant level
union.
• Industry wise or area-wise union have been a later development.
• Industrial unions have been organized mainly as a result of the need felt platform.
• Trade unions covering all workers, irrespective of their craft or category, either at
the plant to the industrial level, have become common in our country.
• In general, in the industrial sector, unions are mostly organized at the enterprise
level while in the service sector; there are industry-wide unions as, for example,
railways, banking, insurance or government service.
• The degree of unionism varies widely fro industry to industry.
• The mushroom growth of unions was not accompanied by a proportionate growth
in the total membership.
As a consequence, the total membership has been fragmented among too many unions
leading to a significant decline in the average membership of individual unions
Functions Of Trade Unions:
The primary function of a trade union is to protect the basic interests and needs of the
members by striving to better the terms and conditions of employment, secure for
workers better wages and to improve their working and living conditions.
• Negotiation
• Representation
• Information and advice
• Member services
1. Negotiation
2. Representation
Trade unions also represent individual members when they have a problem at work. If an
employee feels they are being unfairly treated, he or she can ask the union representative
to help sort out the difficulty with the manager or employer.
If the problem cannot be resolved amicably, the matter may go to an industrial tribunal.
Industrial tribunals make sure that employees and employers properly adhere to
employment laws. They are made up of people outside the workplace who listen to the
employer's and the employee's point of view and then make a judgment about the case.
People can ask their union to represent them at industrial tribunals. Most cases that go to
industrial tribunals are about pay, unfair dismissal, redundancy or discrimination at work.
Unions also offer their members legal representation. Normally this is to help people get
financial compensation for work-related injuries or to assist people who have to take their
employer to court.
3. Information and Advice
Unions have a wealth of information, which is useful to people at work. They can
advise on a range of issues like how much holiday you are entitled to each year, how
much pay you will get if you go on maternity leave, and how you can obtain training at
work.
4. Member services
During the last ten years, trade unions have increased the range of services they
offer their members. These include:
Education and training - Most unions run training courses for their members on
employment rights, health and safety and other issues. Some unions also help members
who have left school with little education by offering courses on basic skills and courses
leading to professional qualifications.
Legal assistance - As well as offering legal advice on employment issues, some unions
give help with personal matters, like housing, wills and debt.
Financial discounts - People can get discounts on mortgages, insurance and loans from
unions.
Welfare benefits - One of the earliest functions of trade unions was to look after
members who hit hard times. Some of the older unions offer financial help to their
members when they are sick or unemployed.
• Most 'collective bargaining takes place quietly and the union and the employer
quickly reach agreements. Occasionally disagreements do occur and the two sides
cannot agree. In these cases the union may decide to take industrial action.
• Industrial action takes different forms. It could mean an over time ban, a work-to-
rule or a strike. There are strict laws, which unions have to follow when they take
industrial action.
• A strike is only called as a last resort. Strikes are often in the news but are rare.
Both sides have a lot to lose. Employers lose income because of interruptions to
production or services. Employees lose their salaries and may find that their jobs
are at risk.
• Usually employers and employees will go to some lengths to avoid the costs of
strike action to both groups.
• The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) are often used to
help find a solution to a dispute which is acceptable to both sides.
Growth of Trade Unions.
With the changed political atmosphere in the country and the spreading of ideas about
democracy, socialism, the right to a living wage, leveling of inequalities the building of a
welfare state and similar thoughts, there is no doubt a steadily increasing number of
workers, particularly in the large metropolitan centres, have begun to realise that a trade
union organization is very essential for the protection and advancement of the working
classes. and their interests. However, this realization alone can not account for the vast
expansion that has taken place in the movement.
The more important factors that have led to this development are the creation of new
central organizations, the growth of political parties at the national and regional levels,
the encouraging labour policies of the government after independence and the
propagation of the philosophy of trade unionism.
Certainly one of the effects of this mushroom growth has been the problems at the plant
level, especially in situations where more than one union .
Two factors are relevant to the process of unionization in India. They relate to trade
union law and to political parties and their labour strategy.
A Trade Union shall not bee entitled to registration under this Act, unless the executive
thereof is constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the rules thereof
provided for following matters, namely:
(b) The whole of the object for which the Trade Union has been established;
(c) The whole of the purposes for which the general funds of the Trade Union shall be
applicable, all of which purposes shall be purpose, to which such funds are lawfully
applicable under this Act;
(d) The maintenance of a list of the members of the Trade Union and adequate facilities
for the inspection thereof by the [Subs. by Trade Unions (Amendment) Act No.33 of
1954] and members of the Trade Union;
(e) The admission of ordinary members who shall be persons actually engaged or
employed in an industry with which the Trade Union is connected, and also the
admission of the number of honorary or temporary members as [Subs. by Trade Unions
(Amendment) Act No.33 of 1954] required under Section 22 to form the executive of the
Trade Union;
(ae) [Ins. by Act 42 of 1960] The payment of a subscription by members of the Trade
Union which shall be not less than twenty five naye paise per month per member;
(a) The conditions under which any member shall be entitled to any benefit assured by
the rules and under which any fine or forfeiture may be imposed on members;
(b) The manner in which the member shall be amended, varied or rescinded;
(c) The manner in which the members of the executive and the other [Subs. by Trade
Unions (Amendment) Act No.33 of 1954] of the Trade Union shall be appointed and
removed;
(d) The safe custody of the funds of the Trade Union, and annual audit, in such manner as
may be prescribed, of the account books by [Subs. by Trade Unions (Amendment) Act
No.33 of 1954] and members of the Trade Union; and
Registration - The Registrar, on being satisfied that the Union has complied with all the
requirements of this Act in regard to registration, shall register the Trade Union by
entering in a register to be maintained in such form as may be prescribed, the particulars
relating to the Trade Union contained in the statement accompanying the application for
Registration.
This section is mandatory. The Registrar cannot refuse to register a Trade Union if the
application for registration complies with the technical requirement as laid down in this
Act.
This Registrar has only to see if it fulfils the technical requirements and not whether it
could be described as unlawful. If the applicant for registration complies with technical
requirements of this Act, he has no option but to register the Trade Union, no matter what
happens to it subsequently even if it, in fact, proceeds counter to law or seeks to carry out
its lawful objects in an unlawful way. (Inland Steam Navigation Workers Union In
re.1635 Cal.57 : 63 Cal.565 : C. W. N. 91).
The functions of the Registrar are prescribed by this Act and his office is also created by
this Act (Ibid.).
shall not apply to any registered Trade Union, had the registration of any such Trade
Union under any such Act shall be void.
The general funds of a registered Trade Union shall not be spent on any other objects
than the following, namely:-
(a) The payment of salaries, allowances and expenses to (Note: Subs. by Act No.38 of
1964 for the word) "officers" office bearers of the Trade Union;
(b) The payment of expenses for the administration of the Trade Union including audit of
the accounts of the general funds of the Trade Union;
(c) The prosecution of defence of any legal proceeding to which the Trade Union or any
member thereof is a party, when such prosecution or defence is undertaken for thee
purpose of securing or protecting any rights of the Trade Union as such or any rights
arising out of the relations of any member with his employer or with a person whom the
member employs;
(d) Thee conduct of trade disputes on behalf of the Trade Union or any member thereof;
(e) The compensation of members for loss arising out of trade disputes;
(f) Allowance to members or their dependants on account of death, old age, sickness,
accidents or unemployment of such members;
(g) The issue of, or the undertaking of liability under policies of assurance on the lives for
members or under policies insuring members against sickness, accident or
unemployment;
(h) The provision of educational, social or religious benefits for members (including the
payment of the expenses of funeral or religious ceremonies for deceased members) or for
the dependants of members;
(i) The upkeep of a periodical published mainly for the purposes of discussing questions
affecting employers or workmen as such;
(j) The payment, in furtherance of any of the objects on which the general funds of the
Trade Union may be spent, of contributions to any cause intended to benefit workmen in
general, provided that the expenditure in respect of such contributions in any financial
year shall not, at any time, during that year be in excess of one-fourth of the combined
total of the gross income which has up to that time accrued to the general funds of the
Trade Union during that year and of the balance at the credit of those funds at the
commencement of that year; and
(k) Subject to any conditions contained in the notification, any other object notified by
the [appropriate Government] in the official Gazette.
Dissolution
• When a registered Trade Union is dissolved, notice for the dissolution signed by
seven members and by the Secretary of the Trade Union shall, within fourteen
days of the dissolution, be sent to the Registrar and shall be registered by him if
he is satisfied the dissolution has been effected in accordance with the rules of
the Trade Union, and the dissolution shall have effect from the date of such
regulation.
• Where the dissolution of a registered Trade Union has been registered and the
rules of the Trade Union do not provide for the distribution and funds of the
Trade Union on dissolution, the Registrar shall divide the funds amongst the
member in such manner as may be prescribed.
• The Role Of government is vital for the growth of trade unions, to monitor,
regulate, and control the actions of trade union for benefit of both employees
and employers to promote social welfare at large. Government has set up few
organizations and issued certain other acts regarding these matters.
The Organization of the Chief Labour Commissioner (C)) known as Central Industrial
Relations Machinery was set up in April, 1945 in pursuance of the recommendation of
the Royal Commission on Labour in India and was then charged mainly with duties of
prevention and settlement of industrial disputes, enforcement of labour laws and to
promote welfare of workers in the undertakings falling within the sphere of the Central
Government.
CIRM is headed by the Chief Labor Commissioner (Central) [CLC (C)]. It is entrusted
with the task of maintaining good industrial relations in the Central sphere. At the
headquarters, CIRM has a complement of 25 officers who perform line and staff
functions. In the field, the machinery has a complement of 253 officers and their
establishments are spread over different parts of the country with zonal, regional and unit
level formations as presented in the organogram.
The CIRM administers the Labour Laws in the industries for which The Central Govt. is
the `appropriate Government' under that Act, Its functions therefore are:
• The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and Rules made there under.
• And Rules made there under.
• The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and Rules made
there under.
• The Contract Labor (Regulations & Abolition) Act, 1970 and Rules made
there under.
• Payment of Wages Act, 1936 in relation to Railways, Mines, and Air
Transport Services and (in the major Ports as Authorized by respective State
Government) and Central Rules made In respect of above industries.
• The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and Minimum Wages (Central Rules),
1950.
• The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and Rules made there under.
• Chapter XIV of the Indian Railways Act, 1989 (Hours of Employment
Regulations).
• The Child Labour (P&R) Act, 1986 and Rules made there under.
• The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and Rules made there under.
• The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and the Rules made there under.
• The Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 (in Circus Industry only).
• The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and
Conduit ons of Service) Act, 1979 and the Rules made there under.
• MES Contractors Labour Regulations.
• Labour Laws (Exemption from furnishing Returns and maintaining
registers by certain Establishments.
• Building and other Construction Workers' (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.