You are on page 1of 17

RECOGNITION OF TRADE

UNIONS

BY
PREETI SINGH (12MBA024)
RISHIKA SINGHAL (12MBA028)

What is a TRADE UNION?
A trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to
achieve common goals such as protecting their integrity, achieving higher pay,
increasing the number of employees an employer hires, and better working
conditions.

The Trade Union Act 1926 defines a trade union as a 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 condition on
the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or
more trade unions.

OBJECTIVES:
Representation
Negotiation (Collective Bargaining)
Voice in decision affecting workers like lay off, retrenchment.
What is RECOGNITION?
Recognition means the expressed recognition of a registered trade union by
an employer or by an employers association for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
Recognition is different from registration.
Recognition is provided to that union which comprises of more than 50 per
cent of the employees in that establishment as its members.
It is the employer and only the employer, who awards recognition to one or
more unions, or refuses such recognition.


TYPES OF RECOGNITION
Recognition is of two types:

VOLUNTARY TRADE UNION RECOGNITION: When an employer
voluntarily recognizes a trade union without using any legal procedures.

STATUTORY TRADE UNION RECOGNITION: If an employer and
trade union do not come to a voluntary recognition agreement, a trade
union can make an application for statutory recognition. This only applies
where the employer, together with any associated employers, employs 21 or
more workers.

CONDITIONS FOR
RECOGNITION
All ordinary members are workmen employed in the same industry or in
industries closely allied to or connected with another;
It is representative of all 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
workmen
Its rules provide for the procedure for declaring a strike ;
Its rules provide that a meeting of its executive shall be held at least once in
every 6 months
It is a registered trade union and that it has complied will all the provisions of
the Trade unions (amendment) Act, 1947.

METHODS OF RECOGNITION
Recognition
Membership
Verification
Check-Off
Secret
Ballot
Code of
Discipline
1) Membership Verification: An official of the labor department of the state or
central government visits the establishment, obtains the manpower list from the
management and asks each employee individually whether or not they wish to
become members of a union and if so, which union. Based on the responses, it
is identified which union gets the majority support of employees. This becomes
the criteria for selecting the sole bargaining agent in an establishment.

2) Check-off: Employees are asked to state in writing whether or not they belong
to a union and if they do, to which union. Also, they should undertake in
writing that they are willing to have union membership deducted from their
salary. The check-off system helps management to know and make an
assessment of the relative strength of unions for the purpose of recognition.

3) Secret Ballot: A more democratic method, election by secret ballot, enables employees
to exercise their option secretly, without fear or favor. The entire process takes place in
the overall supervision of the Chief Labor Commissioner. There are two types of secret
ballots:
Panel: In panel type, the union formed can be a mix of electing members from
different parties. For example, a union may be formed with president from one
union, secretary from other union and treasurer from a third union.
Banner: In banner type, employees vote for a single union i.e. all positions are held
by electing members of same union.

4) Code of Discipline: The criteria is set for recognition of trade unions. In professionally
managed organizations the management signs an agreement with the recognized union
which stipulates dos and donts for management and union but all these are not binding
on the management and the trade union.


CRITERIA FOR RECOGNITION
UNDER CODE OF DISCIPLINE
1) The Unions should have at least one year standing.
2) They should have at least 15% of the membership of the establishment to
claim recognition; and 25% of the work force to claim recognition on
industrial basis.
3) When there are multiple unions in an establishment, the union with largest
membership will be given recognition.
4) The local unions if they have more than 50% of the membership of the
locality, can be recognized to represent their grievances.
5) The recognition granted will be valid for 2 years.
6) The unions which do not follow code of discipline will not be granted
recognition.
RIGHTS OF RECOGNIZED
TRADE UNIONS
Right to sole representation
Entering into collective agreement on terms of employment and conditions of
service
Collection of membership subscription within the premises of the undertaking,
the right to check-off
Holding discussion with departmental representatives of its workers-members
within factory premises
Inspecting by prior agreement the place of work of any of its members
Nominating its representatives on works/ grievance committees and other
bipartite committees.
TRADE UNIONS IN INDIA
All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS)
Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)
Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP)
Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)
National Labor Organization (NLO)
Union Trade Union Congress (UTUC)
Indian Federation Of Free Trade Unions (IFFTU)
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)

CASE STUDY

Maruti locks horns with its Union on
recognition

The new Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU) at
Manesar Plant (near Gurgaon, Delhi) demand
recognition as a Union and the Management doesnt seem
to be interested in letting that happen. The Management is of the stern view that there
is already a recognized Union by name Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU) and
the workers who are interested in participating in the election only need to participate
in the election under the said Union therefore making it unnecessary for the
Management to mushroom in a rival Union.
The workers who intent to form MSEU are of the opinion that MUKU is a Union
representing Gurgaon Plant and do not represent Manesar Plant and that only MSEU is
the true representative face of the workers at Manesar Plant and therefore need not
participate in the election organized by the Plant.
The workers with MSEU decided to boycott the election slated for 16
th
June and resorted to a
strike on 4
th
June demanding recognition of their Union. The strike lasted for 13 days and the
Management suspended 8 Office bearers of MSEU and 3 other workers. Without relenting to
the demands of the newly formed Union Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava said
elections would be held for both the plants and those who win will represent the workers of
both Gurgaon and Manesar.
We are the same companyManesar and Gurgaonand they are not independent entities.
However, Bhargava clarified that the management does not have any role in the election
process.
After 13 days of deadlock, the strike was called off following intervention of Haryana Chief
Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda with the management agreeing to take back 11 sacked employees
and cut down the no work no pay rule of eight days salary cut for every single day of the strike to
three days.

Today the horns still stay locked between the Management and the Union. But the question that
arises is that when the Managements role is of only an administrative nature why do they feel
threatened by the formation of the new Union.
Normal production is expected to resume in Maruti Suzuki Plant at Manesar. This standoff of 33
days between the workers Union and the Management on the issue of recognition of their union and
reinstatement of the suspended workers was smoothened up by the intervention of Harayana
Government whereby bringing about a consensus.
It was the third dispute to affect production at Maruti Suzuki in three months. This plant produces
1200 cars every day in 2 shift. The workers resorted to sabotaging production and deliberately
causing quality problems. The production problems were discovered during quality-control checks
and included doors falling off and dents in car bodies, according to the firm.
The situation had reached a stage where it was directly harming customers interest and trust. The
2,000 workers were locked out of the factory, one of two operated by Maruti in Haryana, until they
had signed the Good Conduct Bond.


As per the consensus, the management of Maruti Suzuki would conditionally take back the
18 trainees who were suspended as the workers agreed to sign the Good Conduct Bond laid
down by the management. The said bond promises that they would not sabotage production,
resort to go-slow tactics or otherwise hamper output at its Manesar plant. However, the
management stated that the disciplinary action taken against the 44 workers would be dealt
with separately and subject to the outcome of the domestic enquiry.
Now the question remains is that can a Good Conduct Bond override the provisions of the
Industrial Disputes Act and other Apex court judgments which make Strike a legitimate
weapon of the workers. Maruti Suzuki wouldnt give the workers such a bond regarding
a Lockout, the managements weapon.

THANK YOU

You might also like