Size and Finance of TU
Size and Finance of TU
Size and Finance of TU
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Why is the Average Size of Indian Trade
Unions Small, and
Their Financial Position Poor?
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
• The industrial town of Kanpur, a cluster of industrial
establishments continued to grow from the beginning of the
twentieth century.
• The more notable of them have been cotton textiles, leather and
footwear, canvas, wood and electrical equipments.
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
• An idea of the frequency distribution of trade union membership in
the country can be had from Table 6.2 (Refer book), the figures of
which relate to the years 1956 and 1964.
• The rest having a membership of 500 and above but less than
2,000 constituted 14.3 and 13.5 per cent of the total number of
unions in 1956 and 1964, respectively.
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Factors Responsible for the Small Size
The first and the primary factor responsible for the decline in the
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
average size of the Indian trade unions:
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Consequences of the Small Size of
Trade Unions
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
The most important • Their inability to engage in effective
consequences of the collective bargaining
average size of the
• Their extremely poor financial
Indian trade unions
being small are: position.
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Finance
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Income and Expenditure
• An idea of the income and expenditure of workers’ trade unions
from 1951 to 2002 can be had from Table 6.3 (Refer book).
• A study of Table 6.3 shows that the average annual income of a
trade union in the country has been less than 3,000 during 1951–
63, between Rs 3,000 and Rs 8,000 during 1964–79 (except in
1978), between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 during 1980–83, and
between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000 during 1984–98 (except in
1990 and 1995).There has been a substantial increase in the
average income per union from 1999 onwards during which it
varied between Rs 62,000 and Rs 82,000.
• The moderate rise in income during successive years may be
considered insignificant in view of the mounting price rise,
inflationary pressures and substantial erosion of the value of
money.
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Finance
Sources of Income
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
• An idea of the sources of income of Indian trade unions can be had
from Table 6.5. Table 6.5 clearly reveals that the primary source
of income of Indian trade unions has been the membership
fee which constituted about 70 per cent of the total income
during 1956–62, but it decreased to about 62 per cent in 1972 and
1974 and then recorded a further decrease of about 43 per cent in
the case of central unions and 58 per cent in the case of state
unions in 2002.
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
• Large Enrolment of Members: The average size of trade unions
in the country has been very small, which has generally varied
between 500–900 in almost all the years between 1951–2002.
• Strict and Regular Collection of Membership Fee: In India,
the trade union law does not authorize even the recognized
unions, not to speak of others, to compel their members to pay
membership fees, whether regularly or intermittently.
• Increase in the Membership Fee: Under the situations
explained above, even the powerful and big unions find it very
difficult to suitably increase membership fee. They fear that such a
move will result in loss of membership and weaken their
organizational strength.
• The Check-off System: Under the check-off system, an employer
undertakes, on the basis of a collective agreement or under
provisions of law to deduct union dues from the workers’ pay and
transfer the same to the union account.
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
The Second National Commission on
Labour on 'Check-off'
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
• The second National Commission on Labour considered the
question of check-off along with the determination of the
negotiating agent for the purpose of collective bargaining and its
advantages vis-à-vis those of secret ballot.
Contd…
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
The Second National Commission on
Labour on 'Check-off'
Copyright © 2013 by P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
• The advocates of the check-off system, while making submissions
before the commission, referred to the following merits of the
system:
It represents the relative strength of unions.
It shows continued support of the union over a long period
of time.
Since the negotiating agent has to represent workers over
a period of time till the next negotiations fall, due
membership of the union is a far better and more reliable
index than a secret ballot
The system promotes unionization.
It does not involve any special expenditure for verification.
The administrative cost of a secret ballot is very high.
Industrial Relations, Trade Unions, and Labour Legislation, 2e Authors: P. R. N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha, and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar