TRADE UNION

Trade Union means a combination formed

for the purpose of regulating the relations not only between workmen and employers but also between workmen and workmen or between employers and employers.
- Trade Union Act 1926

TRADE UNION

A trade union is an organized group of workers. Its main goal is to protect and advance the interests of its members. A union often negotiates agreements with employers on pay and conditions. It may also provide legal and financial advice, sickness benefits and education facilities to its members.
Trade unions aim to represent the interests of people at work and negotiate with employers for better terms and conditions for their members.

It is an organisation formed by employees or workers. It is formed on a continuous basis. It is a permanent body and not a casual or temporary one. It is formed to protect and promote all kinds of interests economic, political and social-of its members.

The dominant interest with which a union is concerned is, however, economic. It includes federations of trade unions also. It achieves its objectives through collective action and group effort

Origin of Trade Unions

The main features of the process of industrialization that necessitated the origin of trade unions are: (i) separation between capital and labour; (ii) philosophy of lassez-faire i.e., least/noninterference of the state in the affairs of labour and management; (iii) lack of bargaining power on the part of workers (which forced the workers (as individuals) to either accept the jobs with wage rates, hours of work etc. unilaterally determined by the employers, or to remain unemployed); and

(iv) The realization by the working class that while the individual worker was dispensable to the employer, workers collectively were indispensable to him, and as such, he could not dispense with all his workers and replace them. It is this realization that sowed the seeds of collective bargaining which later resulted in trade unionism.

HISTORY OF TRADE UNION

On March 25, 1875, the Government of Bombay appointed the first Bombay Factories Commission to investigate factory conditions. The members of the Commission failed to see any necessity of legislation. But due to the agitation started by the social reformers led by Sorabji Bengalle and other reasons the first Indian Factory Act was passed in 1881.

The first trade union was started in 1877 in Empress Mill, Nagpur. It was this labour protest on an organized scale, through the support of some philanthropic personalities, that organized labour unions came into existence. The Madras Labour Union, the first trade union in India to be formed on systematic lines, was established on April 27, 1918, by B.P. Wadia.

 In

1921 an effort was made by N.M. Joshi to introduce in Indian legislature a trade union legislation. However, his effort succeeded after five years in 1926 when the Trade Unions Act was enacted legalizing the right of workers to combine and form unions, and granting them immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for trade union activities and the action flowing from the same.

 The

economic distress that followed the war, the new spirit of awakening, the change in the outlook towards the unions both on the part of the Government and employers, and the enactment of the Industrial disputes Act, 1947 (which enabled the unions to represent workers for settlement of their disputes under the Act) contributed to the growth of trade union movement in the country after the war.

 In

1941 the Radicals left the AITUC with nearly 200 unions with a membership of 3,00,000 and formed a new central federation known as the Indian Federation of Labour. The Post-Independence Period (From 1947 to-date) As pointed out earlier, when attempts to restructure the AITUC failed, those believing in the aims and ideals other than those of the AITUC separated from the organization and established the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in May, 1947

FUNCTIONS OF TRADE UNION

To secure for workers better wages

To safeguard security of tenure and improve conditions of service

To increase opportunities for promotion and training

To improve working and living condition To provide for educational cultural and recreational facilities To promote identity of interests of the workers To offer improved level of production and productivity

discipline and high standard of quality

To promote individual and collective welfare

Forms or type of trade unions: Craft Unions:

Earliest forms of trade unions Promote the skilled status of members Recruit within a particular craft Membership through apprenticeship system Power in skill and ability to control entry into the profession, i.e. control supply of skill

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 General

Unions:

Organises all workers regardless of skill or industry Normally politically motivate and anti-capital Ideal of one union for the whole country More success with unskilled and blue collar workers Weakness not sectorally based

14

 Industrial

Unions:

Presently most common form of union Organises all workers in a particular industry Promotes sectoral based collective bargaining Strength is in no. of members per sector Stronger unions due to one industry focus

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The appropriate Government appoints a person to be the Registrar of Trade Unions for each State. It may also appoint Additional and Deputy Registrars of Trade Unions.

Any seven or more members of a Trade Union may apply for registration of the Trade Union under this Act:

by subscribing their names to the rules of the Trade Union and by complying with the provisions of this Act with respect to registration.

An application for the registration of a Trade Union shall not become invalid merely for the reason that at any time after the date of the application, but before the registration of the Trade Union some of the applications (not exceeding half of the total number of the persons who made the application) have ceased to be members of the Trade Union.

Application for registration of a Trade Union shall be made to the Registrar and shall be accompanied by:

copy of the rules of the Trade Union statement of the following particulars, namely:

The names, occupations and addresses of the members making the application. The name of the Trade Union and the address of its head office.

Where a Trade Union has been in existence for more than one year before the making of an application for its registration it needs to submit a statement of the assets and liabilities held by it.

A Trade Union shall not be entitled to registration under this Act, unless the executive is constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the rules provided for following matters:

the name of the Trade Union the object for which the Trade Union has been established

the purposes for which the general funds of the Trade Union shall be applicable.

The Registrar can call for further information for the purpose of checking the compliance of the application with respect to Sec 5 and Sec 6 of the Trade Union Act.

He may refuse to register the Trade Union until such information is supplied.

If the name under which a Trade Union is proposed to be registered is identical or it nearly resembles with that of any other existing Trade Union, the Registrar shall require the persons applying for registration to alter the name of the Trade Union stated in the application.

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.
Note: 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.

The Registrar registering a Trade Union under Section 8, shall issue a certificate of registration which shall be conclusive that the Trade Union has been duly registered under this Act.

A certificate of registration of a Trade Union may be withdrawn or cancelled by the Registrar:

On the application of the Trade Union If the Registrar is satisfied that the certificate has been obtained by fraud or mistake

Any person aggrieved by any refusal of the Registrar to register a Trade Union or by the withdrawal or cancellation of a certificate of registration may appeal to the prescribed courts.
The Appellate Court may dismiss the appeal, or pass an order directing the Registrar to register the Union and to issue a certificate of registration or setting aside the order for withdrawal or cancellation of the certificate, as the case may be, and the registrar shall comply with such order.

All communications and notice to a registered Trade Union may be addressed to its registered office.

Notice of any change in the address of the head office shall be given within fourteen days of such change to the Registrar in writing.

Every registered Trade Union:

shall be a body corporate by the name under which it is registered shall have perpetual succession and a common seal power to acquire and hold both movable and immovable property it can, by the said name sue and be sued.

The Societies Registration Act, 1863.

The Co-operative Societies Act, 1912.

The Companies Act, 1956

The payment of salaries, allowances and expenses to office bearers of the Trade Union. The payment of expenses for the administration of the Trade Union including audit of the accounts of the general funds. The compensation to members for loss arising out of trade disputes; Allowance to members or their dependants on account of death, old age, sickness, accidents or unemployment of such members; The provision of educational, social or religious benefits for members or for the dependants of members;

The upkeep of a periodical published mainly for the purposes of discussing questions affecting employers or workmen;
Any other object notified by the appropriate Government in the official Gazette.

A registered Trade Union may constitute a separate fund, from which payments may be made, for the promotion of the civic and political interest of its members.

No member shall be compelled to contribute to the fund. Member who does not contribute to the said fund shall not be excluded from any benefits of the Trade Union

Contribution to the said fund shall not be made a condition for admission to the Trade Union.

No officers or members of a registered Trade union shall be liable to punishment under sub-section (2)of Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, in respect of any agreement made between the members for the purpose of furthering any such object of the Trade Union as is specified in Section 15 unless the agreement is an agreement to commit an offence.

No suit or other legal proceeding shall be maintainable in any Civil Court against any registered Trade Union or any member in respect of any act done in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute to which a member of the Trade Union is a party on the ground only that such act induces some other person to break a contract of employment, or that it is in interference with the trade, business or employment of some other person or with the right of some other person to dispose of his capital of his labour as he wills.
A registered Trade Union shall not be liable in any suit or other legal proceeding in any Civil Court in respect of any tortuous act done in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute by and agent of the Trade Union if it is proved that such person acted without the knowledge of, or contrary to, express instructions given by the executive of the Trade Union.

An agreement between the members of a registered Trade Union shall not be void merely because of the fact that any of the objects of the agreement is in restraint of trade.

The account books of a registered Trade Union and the list of members shall be open to inspection by any member of the Trade Union.

Any person who has attained the age of fifteen years may be a member of registered Trade Union subject to any rules of the Trade Union to the contrary.

A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being a member of the executive or any other officebearer or registered Trade Union if

He has not attained the age of eighteen years; He has been convicted by a Court in India of any offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to imprisonment, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.

Not less than one half of the total number of the office bearers of every registered Trade Union shall be persons actually engaged or employed in an industry with which the Trade Union is connected.

Any registered Trade Union may, with the consent of not less than two-thirds of the total number of its members and subject to the provisions of Section 25 change its name.

Any two or more registered Trade Unions may become amalgamated together as one Trade Union provided that the votes of at least one-half of the members of each such Trade Union is recorded, and that at least sixty percent of the votes recorded are in favour of the proposal.

Notice in writing of every change of name and every amalgamation shall be sent to the Registrar, signed,

in the case of change of name, by the Secretary an by seven members of the Trade Union changing its name in the case of an amalgamation by the Secretary and by seven members of each and every Trade Union which is amalgamating.

The change in the name of a registered Trade Union shall not effect

any rights or obligation of the Trade Union or render defective any legal proceeding by or against the Trade Union, legal proceeding may be continued in its new name.

An amalgamation of two or more registered Trade Unions shall not prejudice any right of any such Trade Unions or any right of a creditor or any of them.

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.
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, the Registrar shall divide the funds amongst the member in such manner as may be prescribed.

Every registered Trade Union is required to send a general statement, of all receipts and expenditure audited in the prescribed manner, to the Registrar annually on or before such date as may be prescribed of during the year.

The appropriate Government may make regulations for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act. Such regulations may provided for all or any of the following matters:

The manner in which Trade Union and the rules of Trade Unions shall be registered and the fees payable on registration; The transfer of registration in the case of any registered Trade Union which has changed its head office from one State to another; The manner in which, and the qualifications of persons by whom, accounts of registered Trade Unions or of any class of such Unions shall be audited;

The conditions subject to which inspection of documents kept by Registrars shall be allowed and the fees which shall be chargeable in respect of such inspections;

The Power to make regulations conferred by section 29 is subject to the condition of the regulations being made after previous publications.
Regulations so made shall be published in the Official Gazette and on such publication shall have effect as if enacted in this Act.

Names and details of some Unions in India

The Indian National Trade Union Congress

Origin: The INTUC came into existence on 4th May, 1948, as a result of the resolution passed on 17th November 1947, by the Central Board of the Hindustan Mazdoor Sevak Sangh, which was a labour leader on the Gandhian Philosophy of Sarvodaya Objectives:

To establish an order of society which is free from hindrances to an all-round development of its individual members, which fosters the growth of human personality in all its aspects, and which goes to the utmost limit in progressively eliminating social, political or economic exploitation and inequality, the profit motive in the economic activity and organization of society and the anti-social concentration of power in any form; to place industry under national ownership and control in a suitable form; to secure increasing association of workers in the administration of industry and their full participation in that control;

All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Origin: It was established in 1920 as result of a resolution passed by the organized workers of Bombay and the delegates which met I a conference on 31st October, 1920.
Objectives:

to establish a socialist state in India; to socialize and nationalize means of production, distribution and exchange; to improve the economic and social conditions of the working class; to watch, promote, and further the interests, rights, and privileges of the workers in all matters relating to their employment; to secure and maintain for the workers the freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of association freedom of assembly, the right to strike, and the right to work and maintenance; to co-ordinate the activities of the labour unions affiliated to the AITUC;

to abolish political or economic advantage based on caste, creed, community, race or religion;
to secure and maintain for the workers the right to strike

United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) Origin: Some trade union leaders of the socialist bent met together December 1948 to form a new central organization of labour, called Hind Mazdoor Sabha Objectives:

The objectives of the UTUC are: to establish a socialist society in India; to establish a workers and peasants state in India; to nationalize and socialize the means of production, distribution and exchange; to safeguard and promote the interests, rights, and privileges to the workers in all matters, social, cultural, economic and political; to secure and maintain workers freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, right to strike, right to work or maintenance and the right to social security; to bring about unity in the trade union movement.

Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Origin: This union has been the outcome of decision taken by the Jana Sangh in its Convention at Bhopal on 23rd July, 1954. Objectives: to establish the Bhartiya order of classless society in which there shall be secured full employment;

to assist workers in organizing themselves in trade unions as medium of service to the motherland irrespective of faiths and political affinities; the right to strike; to inculcate in the minds of the workers the spirit of service, co-operation and dutifulness and develop in them a sense of responsibility towards the nation in general and the industry in particular. The BMS is a productivity-oriented non-political trade union. Its ideological basis is the triple formula: nationalize the labour; labourise the industry; industrialize the nation;

National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) Origin This union was founded in 1967, with the claim that this trade union of India is not controlled by any of the political party, employers or government.

Objectives:

to organize and unite trade unions with the object of building up a National Central Organisation of trade unions, independent of political parties, employers and the government, to further the cause of labour and that of national solidarity security and defence of India, and to make the working people conscious of their right as well as of obligations in all spheres of life; to secure to members of trade unions full facilities of recognition and effective representation of interests of workers and to ensure for the working people fair conditions of life and service and progressively to raise their social, economic and cultural state and conditions; to help in every possible way member trade unions in their fight to raise real wages of the workers; to endeavour to secure for members of affiliated trade unions adoption of progressive legislation for their welfare and to ensure the effective environment of the rights and interests of members of affiliated trade unions and for the working people in general.

Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) Origin This union was formed in 1970 when as a result of the rift in the AITUC, some members of the Communist party seceded. About the objectives of the CITU, its constitution says: Objectives:

The CITU believes that the exploitation of the working class can be ended only by socializing all means of production, distribution and exchange and establishing a socialist state, that is, it stands for the complete emancipation of the society from all exploitation. The CITU fights against all encroachments on the economic and social rights of the workers and the enlargement of their rights and liberties including the right to strike, for winning, defending and extending the freedom of the democratic trade union movement. In the fight for the immediate interest of the working class the CITU demands: (a) nationalization of all foreign monopoly concerns who barbarously exploit the working class; (b) nationalization of all concerns owned by Indian monopolists and big industry who garner huge profits at the expenses of the workers, who exploit the people by pegging prices at a high level and who dictate the anti-labour and antipeople policies of the government. The CITU fights against the repressive policy of democratic and trade union movement; the government towards the

CRITICISMS
Political Affiliations

As regards leadership, all the four organizations have their political affiliations, and the leadership, therefore, lies in the hands of the politicians, and not in those of the working class, which is yet illiterate and backward to wield any influence.
The AITUC is pro-communist. It is led by the Right CPI. Its attitude towards the government is not entirely hostile, but of course highly critical of the government. The UTUC is radical, non-communist and anti-INTUC. It is led by some independent trade union leaders, the Forward Block and the Revolutionary Socialist Party. On the international level, the INTUC is affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) an organization mainly supported by the Anglo American block; while the AITUC is affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), supported by the Communist block.

CONCLUSION

Trade Union is an important factor of the current society, as it safeguards the basic interest and needs of both the employees as well as employers, by giving better terms and conditions of employment, secured jobs, better wages, favorable working environment which in turn leads to desired profitability.

i) Primary Unions of the Industrial Type Unlike the Western countries, where the trade union movement began with craft unions, the Indian trade union movement started with the industrial unions. On the basis of their units of organisation, the primary unions are again classified into a) plant-level industrial unions / establishment-level unions, and b) region-cum-industry level industrial unions

a) Plant-Level Industrial Unions / Establishment-Level Unions This type of unions are most common in India. They cover a single plant and the membership of these unions is open to all categories of workers of the plant. There are some establishments which do not come under the purview of the word industry. Examples are: shops, agriculture, personal services etc. The unions that form these establishments, covering all categories of workers employed in them are therefore called as Establishment-Level Unions.

b) Region-cum-Industry Level Industrial Unions This type of unions cover all categories of employees of a particular industry (irrespective of the number of plants or the employers) located in a particular city/ region. Examples are: Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh and Girni Kamgar Union located in Mumbai.

ii) Primary Unions of the General Type The primary unions of the general type may be further classified into two types: a) Employer-cum-local level general unions; and b) local-level general unions.

A union that is formed for all the categories of workers employed in a variety of industries that are located in the same place and are owned by a single employer is called as an employercum-local level general union. Example: Rohatas Workers Union of the Rohtas Industries (covering such industries such as cement, sugar, paper, chemicals, asbestos) located in Dalmianagar. On the other hand, a union that is formed for all categories of workers employed in a variety of industries that are located in the same place, but are owned by different employers, is known as a locallevel general union. Example: Jamshedpur Labour Union.

iii) Primary Unions of the Craft Type Primary unions that are organised at a local level or regional level or national level on the basis of a particular craft of a particular industry come under this category of unions. In India, this type of unions have come up in the coal, textile, port and dock, railway, air transport, and Posts & Telegraphs industries.
In the coal industry, for example, the Indian National Mines Overmen, Surveyors, Sardars Association is a prominent craft union operating at the national level. However, the number of craft unions prevailing in the country is quite insignificant.

Industrial Federations Workers belonging to a particular industry have certain problems in common, which can at best be settled at the industrial level. In order to deal with these problems effectively, the plant level and /or locality level unions have tended to form federations at two levels: regional and national levels. Examples of regional level federations are: the UP Chini Mazdoor Federation and the Bihar Sugar Workers Federation. Some examples of the national level industrial federations are: All India Coal Workers Federation, All India Bank Employees Federation

Central Federations The central federations of trade unions are at the apex of the trade union structure in India. These federations provide guidance and formulate broad policies of the unions that are affiliated to them and give these policies a national character. Further, they act as coordinating authorities for their affiliates. They come to the rescue of the affiliates whenever the latter face crises. However, in the negotiations at the lower levels, they have little say.

At present, there are 12 central trade union organisations/ federations in India. They are : AITUC , INTUC, HMS, UTUC, UTUC (Lenin Sarani), CITU, BMS, National Federations of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU), Trade Union Coordination Committee (TUCC), National Labour Organisation (NLO), Hindu Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP), and Indian Federation of Free Trade Unions (IFFTU).
Out of these, thefollowing 5 are considered major: INTUC, BMS, HMS, AITUC, and CITU. All these have affiliations to national political parties. The NFITU, HMKP, and IFFTU are independent federations.

The main objective of forming trade unions is to improve the employment and service conditions of workers. The unions seek to achieve this objective by negotiating / bargaining with the employers / managements about the terms and conditions of employment. Collective bargaining can be possible only when employers recognise trade unions as bargaining agents. There is no central legislation in India regarding recognition of unions for collective bargaining and other purposes. As such, recognition of trade unions has become a vexatious problem in India.

 What

is Recognition? The Royal Commission on Labour in India (1931) in its Report explained that recognition should mean that the employer recognised the right of the union to negotiate with him in respect of matters affecting either the common or the individual interests of the members. Sen (2003) defines trade union as the process through which management acknowledges and accepts a trade union as representative of some or all of the workers in an establishment or industry and with which it is willing to conduct discussions on all issues concerning those orders.

The methods used for determining the union strength are: (a) election by secret ballot; b) check-off method; and c) physical verification of union membership.

 a)

Election by Secret Ballot: The secret ballot method is similar to the conduct of elections in general for the purpose of entrusting the reins of Government to a political party. Under this system all eligible workers of an industrial establishment may vote for a union of their choice. Generally, elections through the method are conducted by the Registrar of Unions who acts as a neutral agent. The elected union enjoys the recognition status for a minimum period, usually two years.

 c)

Verification of Union Membership: In India, verification of union membership is carried out by an official organisation designated by the Government to ascertain the strengths of the unions. For estimating the actual membership strengths of the registered unions in an establishment, the verification team members scrutinise the claim lists of the unions, their membership fees books, membership records and account books, and make physical sampling of workers.