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 union

The 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 sets
of 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 of
the 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 provided
for 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 may
effectively represent any employees.
Once a union is recognized it serves as
the bargaining agent for the workers in a
particular bargaining unit.
An employee may not circumvent the
union,
because recognition entails willingness
to negotiate with a view to striking
abargain 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 union
mainly 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 exemployees20;
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 TUs

Role of ILO in Recognition of Trade

Unions

The concern felt by the ILO for evolving an

international instrument for recognition of trade
unions resulted in ILO Convention No. 87 on
freedom of association and protection of the
rights to organise in 1948 and convention No.
98 concerning the right to organise and
bargain collectively in 1949.

The former states that:

empowers the workers organisation to frame their
constitution, to elect representatives and among
others to organise their activities
The latter confers protection
to workers against acts of anti-union discrimination
in respect of their employment.

Constitution and Recognition of Trade

Unions
Whether 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 answered
in 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); Tamil
Nadu Electricity Board Accounts Executive StaffUnion vs.
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Madras (1980) 2 L.L.J.
Because the right to form association
does not carry with it the concomitant right[ndia Bank
Employees 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 withdrawal of recognition
does not infringe the fundamental rights guaranteed under the
Constitution of India, art. 19(1)[M.A. David vs. K.S.E. Board
(1973) 3 L.L.J. 466 (Kerala].

Conditions for Recognition

Trade Unions (Amendment) Act, 1947, s. 25D provides that a
trade union will not be entitled for recognition by order of a
Labour Court under s. 25E unless it fulfills the following
conditions, namely
all its ordinary members are workmen employed in the same
industry or in industries closely allied to or connected with
another;
it is representative of all the workmen employed by the
employer in that industry or those industries;
its rules do not provide for the exclusion from membership of
any class of the workmen.
its rules do not provide for the procedure for declaring a
strike;
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 a
majority 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 make
anapplication for re-recognition after six months
from the date of withdrawal of
recognition.

Case Law

The 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 plantorders passed.
Rival unionRourkela Mazdoor Sabha filed a writ petition in
the High Court of Orissa. SC directed to to complete the
process of verification of
membership and the labour commissioner to complete the
proceedings of
recognition as expeditiously as possible and preferably
within four months from
the receipt of this decision. Thus the appeal was allowed

Association of Engineering Workers vs. Dock Yard Labour Union

and Others

In this case SC observed that Maharashtra Recognition

ofTrade Union and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices
Act, 1971, s. 11 provides for making an application for
recognition of a union.

The requirement for recognition is that the

union must have for a period of six months
immediately preceding the making of an
application,
a number of not less than 30 per cent of the total
number of employees employed in the said
undertaking.
Where the industrial court is satisfied that the
conditions requisite for registration specified in s.
11 are satisfied then the industrial court has to
grant recognition to the union and issuea
certificate 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, one

International Airports Authority of Indian

Workers Union and theother International Air
port Authority Employees Union
One union did not participate in the elections
on ground of seeking recognition in court.
It was observed by the Supreme Court that in
the circumstances of the case it is just and
proper to hold fresh elections to determine
the majority character of the union which may
be 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 of
India, art. 19. These trade union rights may be divided into the
following categories:
right of freedom of speech and expression which includes
right of
picketing34 and demonstrations35;
right regarding the formation and the registration of the trade
union.
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 a

fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of
India, art. 19(1)(c), which may only be subjected to
reasonable restrictions in the public interest as provided by
art. 19(1)(6) of the Constitution
Provision is also made in the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926
for providing them immunities from criminal prosecution
in certain circumstances, which further ensure the safe
conduct of the trade unions.
Under the various laws, the trade unions are required to
get themselves registered for certain purposes. Every trade
union 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 central
enactments 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 dont apply?
Trade Unions Act, 1926, s. 14 expressly
provides that the following Acts will not
apply to any registered trade union:
the Societies Registration Act, 1860;
the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912; and
The Companies Act, 1956/

Conclusion
TU activity has the potential for generating
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 production
Such a state of affairs would be beneficial not only
to workers, but also to the industry and to the
nation.
The government and many enlightened employers
do appreciate the importance of the role of trade
unions, and their policy is one of encouragement
and 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 Recognising A Trade Union:
where there are more than one union, a
union claiming recognition must have been
functioning 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 all
establishments 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.