CHAPTER III

TRADE UNIONS

9. Manner of recognition of negotiating union or negotiating council.-

(1) Matters for negotiation.-

The matters pertaining to workers which the negotiating union or the negotiating council, as the case may be, shall negotiate with the employer of the industrial establishment under sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Code are specified, below: -

(i) the classification of grades and categories of workers;

(ii) order passed by an employer under the standing orders applicable in the industrial establishment;

(iii) the wages of the workers including their wage period, dearness allowance, bonus, increment, customary concession or privileges, compensatory and other allowances;

(iv) hours of work of the workers, rest days, number of working days in a week, rest intervals, working of shifts;

(v) leave with wages and holidays;

(vi) promotion and transfer policy and disciplinary procedures;

(vii) quarter allotment policy for workers;

(viii) safety, health and working conditions and related standards;

(ix) the matters pertaining to conditions of service and terms of employment of the workers which are no covered in the foregoing clauses; and

(x) any other matter which is agreed between employer of the industrial establishment and negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be.

(2) Criteria for recognising single registered Trade Union.- under sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Code.-

Where there is only one registered Trade Union operating in an industrial establishment having its membership not less than thirty per cent. of the total workers employed in the industrial establishment, the employer of such industrial establishment shall recognise such Trade Union as the sole negotiating union of the workers.

(3) Manner of verification of membership of Trade Unions under sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 14 of the

Code.-

(a) (i) The Central Government shall appoint a verification officer (hereinafter in this chapter, referred to as the verification officer) for the purpose of verification of membership of the Trade Unions in the industrial establishment who shall not have any interest with any of the Trade Unions in the industrial establishment, whose membership verification is to be carried out by him:

Provided that the process for recognition of the negotiating union or the negotiating council, as the case may be, shall commence three months before the expiry of the term of the existing recognition period of the negotiating union or the negotiating council, as the case may be, recognised by the employer under the Code.

(ii) The verification officer may utilise the services of other officers to assist him depending upon the quantum of work of membership verification.

(iii) The verification officer shall carry out the work of membership verification in the industrial establishment within the time as determined by the Central Government.

(b) The employer of the industrial establishment shall bear all the expenses and make arrangements in connection with the verification of membership of Trade Unions under clause (a).

(c) The Trade Unions may submit an application to the employer of the industrial establishment to accord status of negotiating union or the representatives of negotiating council of the workers, as the case may be, on fulfillment of the following conditions namely,-

(i) such Trade Union has a valid registration under the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926) and continuing as such or has the registration under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (35 of 2020), as the case may be; and

(ii) the application for recognition by the Trade Union is accompanied with a copy of the registration certificate, a copy of list of members, details of the membership subscription and a copy of latest annual return of the Trade Union submitted to the Registrar of Trade Unions.

(d) (i) In case the negotiating union or negotiating council, is constituted under the Code, the employer of the industrial establishment shall initiate action before expiry of the tenure of negotiating union or negotiating council, sufficiently in advance but not later than three months before the expiry of the tenure of negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be.

(ii) The date of reckoning of verification of membership of the Trade Unions shall be fixed by the verification officer for the industrial establishment.

(iii) The employer of the establishment shall forward the documents and records submitted by Trade Unions, to the verification officer.

(iv) On receipt of the documents and records, the verification officer shall scrutinise the records and documents submitted by the Trade Union to ascertain the status of registration of Trade Unions and related matters.

(v) The verification officer shall hold meeting with representatives of employer of industrial establishment and all participating Trade Unions to decide the process of verification of the membership of Trade Unions through secret ballot.

(vi) The employer may, in consultation with the verification officer deploy an electronic process for conducting the election over an information technology application, online platform or like other platform.

(4) Verification of membership through secret ballot.-

(a) The verification officer shall convene meeting of representatives of all registered Trade Unions functioning in the industrial establishment sixty days before the date of actual voting to decide -

(i) the publication of voters list;

(ii) the date, time, mode of voting, place of voting;

(iii) the date, time and place of counting; and

(iv) other modalities relating to secret ballot.

(b) The verification officer shall cause the minutes of the meeting to be prepared and signed by all participating Trade Unions.

(c) All participating Trade Unions shall be allotted symbols in the same meeting.

(d) In case no decision could be taken regarding date, time, mode of voting, place of voting, allotment of symbols, date,

time and place of counting and like other matters in the meeting, the decision of the verification officer shall be final and he shall publish the schedule, programme and procedure of such secret ballot election.

(e) All workers whose names are borne on the muster roll of the industrial establishment on the date of reckoning shall be eligible to cast their vote.

(f) The voters list shall be prepared by the employer of the industrial establishment on the basis of names of the workers borne on the muster roll referred to in clause (e) and the voters list shall contain the name, father’s name, designation, worker number or identity card number issued by the employer and place of posting of the worker.

(g) The final voter list shall be published by the employer after obtaining the approval of verification officer and be displayed at notice board at the main entrance and also on website, if any, of the industrial establishment within two days of finalisation of the list and a copy of such voters list shall also be sent to the participating Trade Unions by hand or by speed post or through electronic mode.

(h) The verification officer shall display the list of the name of the participating Trade Unions with the symbol allotted to them on the notice board at the main entrance and website, if any, of the industrial establishment within two days of finalisation of the list.

(i) The voting and counting of votes shall be held on the date, time and place fixed by the verification officer under the supervision of the verification officer and during the counting, agents of all participating Trade Unions shall be allowed to remain present.

(j) After final counting of votes, the result shall be declared by the verification officer which shall contain the name of all Trade Unions who participated in election, total number of votes polled and the number of votes cast in favour of each of the trade unions which participated in the election.

(5) Verification report.-

The verification officer shall submit verification report along with the result sheet to the employer of industrial establishment.

(6) Recognition of Trade Union as negotiating union or constituents of negotiating council.-

(a) On the basis of verification report submitted by verification officer, the employer of the industrial establishment shall grant recognition to the Trade Union as a negotiating union or a constituent of negotiating council.

(b) The recognition granted under clause (a), either as negotiating union or the negotiating council shall be valid for three years from the date of recognition or constitution or such further period not exceeding five years, in total, as may be mutually agreed by the employer and the Trade Union, as the case may be.

(7) Facilities provided by industrial establishment.-

(a) In an industrial establishment, where there is a negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be, the employer of such industrial establishment shall provide the following facilities namely: -

(i) notice board for the purpose of displaying information relating to activities of the negotiating union or negotiating council;

(ii) venue and necessary facilities for holding discussions by the negotiating union or negotiating council, as per the schedule and agenda to be settled between employer of the industrial establishment and the negotiating union or negotiating council;

(iii) venue and necessary facilities for holding discussions amongst the members of the negotiating union or constituents of negotiating council;

(iv) entrance of the office bearers of the negotiating union or negotiating council, in the industrial establishment for the purposes of ascertaining the matters relating to working conditions of the workers;

(v) employer of an industrial establishment, having three hundred or more workers, shall provide suitable office accommodation with necessary facilities to the negotiating union or negotiating council.

(b) The employer of the industrial establishment shall deduct subscription of the members of the Trade Union on the basis of the written consent of the worker.

(c) The office bearers of the negotiating union or negotiating council shall be treated on duty while holding meetings with the employer.

(8) Application for adjudication of dispute before Tribunal.-

Where any dispute arises between –

(i) one Trade Union and another; or

(ii) one or more workers who are members of Trade Union and the Trade Union regarding registration,administration or management or election of office bearers of the Trade Union; or

(iii) one or more workers who are refused admission as members and the Trade Union; or

(iv) where the dispute is in respect of a Trade Union which is a federation of Trade Unions and office bearer authorised in this behalf by the Trade Union, the aggrieved worker or the Trade Union, as the case maybe, may make an application in Form-II to the Tribunal having jurisdiction within a period of one year from the date on which the dispute arises, electronically or by speed post or in person.