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Unit 11: Trade Unions Act, 1926

4. All office bearers of a registered trade union, except not more than one-third of the total Notes
number of office bearers or five, whichever is less, shall be persons actually engaged or employed
in the establishment or industry with which the trade union is connected.
5. Minimum rate of subscription by members of the trade union is fixed at one rupee per annum
for rural workers, three rupees per annum for workers in other unorganised sectors and 12
rupees per annum in all other cases.
6. The employees who have been retired or have been retrenched shall not be construed as
outsiders for the purpose of holding an office in the trade union concerned.
7. For the promotion of civic and political interest of its members, unions are authorized to set
up separate political funds.

Hence, trade union legislation ensures their orderly growth, reduce their multiplicity and promote
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.

11.1.4 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/center/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
Contd....

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