Page 170 - DCOM207_LABOUR_LAWS

Unit 10: Trade Unions Act, 1926

Hence, trade union legislation ensures their orderly growth, reduce their multiplicity and promote Notes
internal democracy in the industrial organisation and the economy. The trade unions have thus
acquired an important place in the economic, political and social set up of the country.

10.1.4 Scope and Coverage

The expression “Trade Union” under the Act includes both employers and workers organizations
Employers organisations also can be registered as trade unions. The intention is to place both on
par in matters of rights and responsibilities. It is primarily the objective of an association or
combination which determines whether it is a trade union or not.

The federation of two or more trade unions mentioned in the definition can be seen in shape of
Industrial Federations of Trade Unions.
Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1948 is .the most important state enactment. The relevant
features of the Act are (a) compulsory recognition of union by employer, (b) giving the right
to workers to get their case represented either through representative union or where there is
no representative union in industry/centre/unit through elected representative of workers or
through Government labour officer.
There is no provision in the Trade Unions Act, 1926 about sorting out inter or intra trade union
disputes. In such eventuality, aggrieved party has to take recourse to common law of the land
and redressal through courts.

This Act extends to the whole of India. Under the Act, the term “Trade Union” is defined as any
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
employer and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade
of business, and includes any federation of two or more trade unions. In other words, a trade
union is a combination or association of not only of workmen but also of the employers. The Act,
therefore, applies not only to the unions of workers but also to the associations of employers.
(Sec. 2H)

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Caselet IG Metall - A Trade Union in Crisis?

n April 24, 2006, an agreement was reached between IG Metall Trade Union (IG
Metall, also known as Industrie Gewerkschaft Metall or German Metalworker’s
OUnion), one of the oldest and largest trade unions in Germany and Gesamtmetall
National Employers’ Group (Gesamtmetall) on the wage increase for the union’s 3.4
million members. Under the agreement, which was valid for 13 months, its members
would receive a wage hike of three percent from June 2006 and a one time payment of 310
Euros as bonus for the months of March, April, and May 2006. This agreement avoided a
series of nationwide strikes that IG Metall had planned to hold in Germany.
After the agreement, Gesamtmetall members threatened to cut jobs or move them out of
Germany. They said that the agreement would increase labor costs and make exports less
competitive.

It was estimated that an IG Metall worker in Germany made on an average about 25 Euros
an hour when compared to 6 Euros per hour earned by a worker in East European countries.
The employers also warned that this wage increase could threaten the recovery of the
fragile German economy. They felt that the agreement would worsen the unemployment
situation in Germany. Anton Boerner, head of one of the employer’s federation wrote,
Contd...

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