Trde Union Recognition

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Industrial Relations

Trade Union Recognition

Dr A Jagan Mohan Reddy



Introduction Freedom of Association has been the corner stone of

democratic societies.

Modern trade unionism is a product of conditions created by

the industrial revolution.

The factory system of production completely tore the

relationship between the capitalist and the labour class and

subordinated the workers[birth to TU].

Why?

Desire to redress by combination or collective action, the

economic disparity in bargaining strength.

National Labour Commission, 1969, inter alia, strongly

recommended that trade union registration be made

compulsory;



Recognition of Trade unionThe TUAct, 1926 was conspicuously silent with regard

provisions regarding compulsory recognition of the

unions by employers for thepurposes of negotiation

and bargaining.

The Trade Unions Act, 1926, covers mainly three setsof matters, namely,

the conditions governing registration of trade

unions,

the obligation to which a trade union is subjected

after registratio n and

the rights and privileges accordedto registered

unions.



RTU contd…. it imposed no obligation on employers to recognize

and deal with registered unions. figured prominently on the agenda of successive

Labour ministers conference held in 1940/1941 and ofthe meetings of the standing labour committee (1944)

and the Indian labour conference (1945). The result was the adoption of the Indian Trade

Union(Amendment) Act XLV of 1947, which providedfor the compulsory recognition by employers of

representative trade unions by order of a labour court The Amendment Act has not, however, come into force

at all.



What is the practice:Definition of Recognition

A union must be recognized before it mayeffectively represent any employees.

Once a union is recognized it serves as

the bargaining agent for the workers in aparticular bargaining unit.

An employee may not circumvent theunion,

because recognition entails willingness‘to negotiate with a view to strikingabargain and this involves a positive

mental decision



Need for Recognition? R is the backbone of collective bargaining.

No enforced central legislation on this subject.

voluntary code of discipline and legislations in some

states.

In the absence of any central legislation management

in several states have refused to recognise trade unionmainly on five grounds:

most of the office bearers of the union were outsiders19;

the trade union keeps outsiders disapproved by

management and particularly politicians and ex-employees20;

the union consisted of only small number of employees;

there were in existence many rival unions; and

the trade union was not registered under the TU’s



Role of ILO in Recognition of Trade

Unions The concern felt by the ILO for evolving an

international instrument for recognition of tradeunions resulted in ILO Convention No. 87 on‘f reedom of association and protect ion of ther ights to organise ’ in 1948 and convention No.98 concerning the r ight to o rganise and

bargain co l lect ively in 1949.The former s tates that :

empowers the workers organisation to frame theirconstitution, to elect representatives and among

others to organise their activitiesThe latter confers protect ion

to workers against acts of anti-union discriminationin respect of their employment.



Constitution and Recognition of Trade

UnionsWhether there exists a right for a trade union to be granted

recognition to trade unions within the meaning of Constitution

of India, art. 19(1)(c) is a fundamentalright or not is answeredin the negative.

A.C. Mukerjee vs. Union of India (1972) 2 L.L.J. 345; M.A.David vs. K.S.E. Board (1973) 3 L.L.J. 466 (Kerala); TamilNadu Electricity Board Accounts Executive StaffUnion vs.Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Madras (1980) 2 L.L.J.

Because the r ight to form associat ion

does not carry with it the concomitant right[ndia BankEmployees Association vs. National Industries Tribunal (1961)1 L.L.J.

375; Raghubir Dayal Jai Prakash vs. Union of India 1961 AIR

(SC) 363; D.A.V.]The withd rawal of recogni t ion

does not infringe the fundamental rights guaranteed under theConstitution of India, art. 19(1)©[M.A. David vs. K.S.E. Board(1973) 3 L.L.J. 466 (Kerala].



Conditions for RecognitionTrade Unions (Amendment) Act, 1947, s. 25D provides that a

trade union will not be entitled for recognition by order of aLabour Court under s. 25E unless i t fu l f i lls the fo l lowingcond i t ions, namely

all its ordinary members are workmen employed in the sameindustry or in industries closely allied to or connected withanother;

it is representative of all the workmen employed by theemployer in that industry or those industries;

its rules do not provide for the exclusion from membership ofany class of the workmen.

its rules do not provide for the procedure for declaring astrike;

its rules provide that a meeting of its executive will be held at

least once in every six months; and

it is a registered trade union and that it has complied with all

provisions of this Act.



The aforesaid provisions of the Act raise various

problems Can an employer voluntarily recognise a union which

is not registered under the Act which is in fact amajority union?

Can an employer be compelled to recognise more

than one union?

Re-recognition of Trade Unions

The Trade Union (Amendment) Act, 1947, s. 28H

permits the registered tradeunion whose recognition

is withdrawn under sub -s. (3) of s. 28G to makeanapplication for re-recognition after six months

from the date of withdrawal of

recognition.



Case LawThe General Secretary, Rourkela Sramik Sangh vs.Rourkela Mazdoor Sabha and others.

Rourkela Sramik Sangh –labour commmissioner, Orissa,Cuttack -recognise it as a salebargaining agent in the plant-orders passed.

Rival unionRourkela Mazdoor Sabha filed a writ petition inthe High Court of Orissa. SC directed to to complete theprocess of verification of

membership and the labour commissioner to complete theproceedings of

recognition as expeditiously as possible and preferablywithin four months from

the receipt of this decision. Thus the appeal was allowed



Associat ion of Engineer ing Workers vs . Dock Yard Labour Union

and Others In this case SC observed that Maharashtra RecognitionofTrade Union and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices

Act, 1971, s. 11 provides for making an application forrecognition of a union.

The requirement for recogni t ion is that the

union must have for a period of six months

immediately preceding the making of anapplication,

a number of not less than 30 per cent of the totalnumber of employees employed in the saidundertaking.

Where the industrial court is satisfied that theconditions requisite for registration specified in s.11 are satisfied then the industrial court has togrant recognition to the union and issueacertificate in that behalf in the prescribed form.



International Airport Authority of Indian Workers Union vs.

InternationalAirports Authority of India and others

Dispute arose between two rival unions, oneInternational Airports Authority of IndianWorkers Union and theother International Airport Authority Employees Union

One union did not participate in the electionson ground of seeking recognition in court.

It was observed by the Supreme Court that inthe circumstances of the case it is just and

proper to hold f resh elect ion s to determ inethe majority character of the union which maybe recognized by the International Airport Authority of India.



Rights of Trade Unions in India The trade union rights in our country are found scattered in

various laws, voluntary measures like the Code of Discipline

and the constitutional provisions under the Constitution ofIndia, art. 19. These trade union rights may be divided into thefollowing categories:

right of freedom of speech and expression which includesright of

picketing34 and demonstrations35;

right regarding the formation and the registration of the tradeunion.

right regarding the recognition of the trade union by the

employers; Right regarding collective bargaining and collective actions;

Right regarding conduct and functioning of the trade union;and

Miscellaneous rights



Right to form a Trade Union A Constitutional Right of citizens of India

The right to form and continue36 a trade union is afundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution ofIndia, art. 19(1)(c), which may only be subjected toreasonable restrictions in the public interest as provided byart. 19(1)(6) of the Constitution

Provision is also made in the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926for providing them immunities from criminal prosecutionin certain circumstances, which further ensure the safeconduct of the trade unions.

Under the various laws, the trade unions are required to

get themselves registered for certain purposes. Every tradeunion is required to register itself under the Trade Unions

Act in order to operate as a trade union.



Recognition of Trade Unions by

Employers There is no provision in the Indian Trade Unions Act

or Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the only two centralenactments in this respect in the country regarding

recognition of the trade union by employers.

The Code of Discipline regulates this aspect, though

not on a statutory level.



Code of Discipline and Trade Union

Recognition

criteria evolved at the 16 Session of Indian Labour

Conference held in May 1958.

The criteria for recognition of a union has been that

the membership of the union must cover at least 15 per

cent of the workers in the establishment and for this purpose the membership has to be counted only

of those persons who have paid their subscription for at

least three months during the period of six months

immediately preceding the reckoning.

When there is more than one union, a union claiming

recognition must have been functioning for at least one

year afterregistration.

The recognition is generally given for a period of two

years.



If there is more than one union in an

industry or establishment, the one with the

largest membership must be recognised.Acts that don’t apply?

Trade Unions Act, 1926, s. 14 expressly

provides that the following Acts will notapply to any registered trade union:

the Societies Registration Act, 1860;

the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912; and The Companies Act, 1956/



ConclusionTU act iv i ty has the po tent ial for generat ing

a healthy circle of better labour productivity,

increasing earnings of labour,

expanding their purchasing power,

improving their working and living conditions,

increasing efficiency, and having more productionSuch a state of affairs would be beneficial not only

to workers, but also to the industry and to thenation.

The government and many enlightened employersdo appreciate the importance of the role of trade

unions, and their policy is one of encouragementand assistance to the trade unionism.



The Trade Unions Act, 1926 is completely

silent on the question of recognising a trade

union for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Such a provision exists, however, in

Annexure A of the Code of Discipline,a

voluntary one.

This annexure lays down the following Criteria

For Recogn is ing A Trade Union :

where there are more than one union, a

union claiming recognition must have beenfunctioning for at least one year

afterregistration.

Where there is only one union, this condition



the membership of the union must cover at

least fifteen per cent of the workers in the

establishment concerned. Membership would be counted only of those

who have paid their subscription for at least

three months during the period of six months

immediately preceding the month of

reckoning;

a union may claim to be recognised as a

representative union for workers in allestablishments in an industry in a local area if

it has a membership of at least 25 per cent of

the workers of that industry in that area;



when a union has been recognised, there must be no change in its

position for a period of two years.

where there are several unions in an industry or establishment, the

one with the largest membership must be recognised.

a representative union for an industry in an area must have the

right to represent the workers in all the establishments in the

industry, but if a union of workers in a particular establishment has

membership of 50 per cent or more of the workers of that

establishment, it must have the right to deal with matters of

purely local interest such as, for instance, the handling of

grievances pertaining to its own members. All other workers, who

are not members of that union might either operate through the

representative union for the industry or seek redress directly; and only unions that observe the Code of Discipline should be

entitled to recognition.

Trde Union Recognition

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