“COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND THEORY OF STATUS TO

CONTRACT”

A Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the course JURISPRUDENCE-

II, 6th SEMESTER during the Academic Year 2020-2021

SUBMITTED BY:
Rishabh Sinha
Roll No. - 2034
B.B.A., LL.B.(Hons.)

SUBMITTED TO:
Dr. Manoranjan Kumar
FACULTY OF JURISPRUDENCE-II

MARCH, 2021
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAYAYA NAGAR,
MEETHAPUR, PATNA-800001
 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.B.A. ,LL.B. (Hons.) Project Report entitled “
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND THEORY OF STATUS TO CONTRACT” submitted
at Chanakya National Law University; Patna is an authentic record of my work carried out
under the supervision of Dr Manoranjan Kumar. I have not submitted this work elsewhere
for any other degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

(Signature of the Candidate)

Rishabh Sinha
Chanakya National Law University, Patna
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“IF YOU WANT TO WALK FAST GO ALONE

IF YOU WANT TO WALK FAR GO TOGETHER”
A project is a joint endeavour which is to be accomplished with utmost compassion, diligence
and with support of all. Gratitude is a noble response of one’s soul to kindness or help
generously rendered by another and its acknowledgement is the duty and joyance. I am
overwhelmed in all humbleness and gratefulness to acknowledge from the bottom of my
heart to all those who have helped me to put these ideas, well above the level of simplicity
and into something concrete effectively and moreover on time.
This project would not have been completed without combined effort of my revered
JURISPRUDENCE-II Faculty Dr. Manoranjan Kumar whose support and guidance was the
driving force to successfully complete this project. I express my heartfelt gratitude to him.
Thanks are also due to my parents, family, siblings, my dear friends and all those who helped
me in this project in any way. Last but not the least; I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to our faculty for providing us with such a golden opportunity to showcase our
talents. Moreover, thanks to all those who helped me in any way be it words, presence,
encouragement or blessings...

- Rishabh Sinha
- 6th Semester
- B.B.A., LL.B.(Hons
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………….i

Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………….ii

Table of Contents…………………………………………………………....……………….iii

Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………………….…iv

Hypothesis.................................................................................................................................iv

Research Methodology......................................................................................................…...iv

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1-2

2. Collective Bargaining………..............................................................................…...3-5

3. From Status to Contract: A thesis by Henry Maine....................................................6-8

4. Stages and Levels of Collective bargaining in India….................................……....9-11

5. Landmark cases pertaining to Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining agreements in

India…………………………………………………………................................12-13

6. Conclusion…………………..................................................................................14-15

Bibliography……………………………...………………………….....………........………16
 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Aims and Objectives of this project are:

1. The researcher tends to perform a compehrensive study on Collective Bargaining.
2. The researcher tends to understand the theory of status to contract.

HYPOTHESIS
The researcher has presumed ~
Collective bargaining has a give and take approach rather than leave and intake approach.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For this study, doctrinal research method was utilised. Various articles, e-articles, reports and
books from library were used extensively in framing all the data and figures in appropriate
form, essential for this study.
The method used in writing this research is primarily analytical.
 INTRODUCTION

According to Beach, “Collective Bargaining is concerned with the relations between unions
reporting employees and employers (or their representatives). It involves the process of union
organization of employees, negotiations administration and interpretation of collective
agreements concerning wages, hours of work and other conditions of employees arguing in
concerted economic actions dispute settlement procedures”.

According to Flippo, “Collective Bargaining is a process in which the representatives of a labor

organization and the representatives of business organization meet and attempt to negotiate a
contract or agreement, which specifies the nature of employee-employer union relationship”.
Industrial disputes between the employee and employer can also be settled by discussion and
negotiation between these two parties in order to arrive at a decision. Collective Bargaining is a
mode of fixing the terms of employment by means of bargaining between organized body of
employees and an employer or association of employees acting usually through authorized
agents. The essence of Collective Bargaining is bargaining between interested parties and not
from outside parties.

According to an ILO Manual in 1960, the Collective Bargaining is defined as:

“Negotiations about working conditions and terms of employment between an employer, a group
of employees or one or more employers organization on the other, with a view to reaching an
agreement.”
It is also asserted that “the terms of agreement serve as a code defining the rights and obligations
of each party in their employment relations with one another, if fixes large number of detailed
conditions of employees and during its validity none of the matters it deals with, internal
circumstances give grounds for a dispute counseling and individual workers”.
Maine made every valuable contribution to legal philosophy by way of historic comparative
method. He was an erudite scholar of law. He started his career as Regis Professor of civil law in
the University of Cambridge at an early age of twenty five. He was law member in the council of
the Governor General of India between 1861 and 1869. This provided him an opportunity for the
study of Indian legal system. From 1869 to 1877 he occupied the chair of historical and
comparative jurisprudence in Corpus Christi College, Oxford. After that he held the
distinguished post of the master of trinity Hall, Cambridge.
Maine’s “status to contract” doctrine is by no means his only outstanding contribution to
jurisprudence. He has enriched our knowledge and understanding of legal history in several
aspects. Very interesting, for example, is his theory of law and lawmaking. He believed that in
the earliest period law was created by the personal commands of patriarchal rulers, who were
considered by their subjects to at under divine inspiration. Then followed a period of customary
law, expounded and applied by an aristocracy or small privileged class which claimed a
monopoly of legal knowledge. The third stage was marked by a codification of these customs as
the result of social conflicts. The fourth stage, according to Maine, consists in the codification of
strict archaic law by the help of fiction, equity and legislation; these instrumentalities are
designed to bring the law into harmony with a progressing society.

Finally, scientific jurisprudence weaves all these various forms of law into a consistent and
systematic whole. Not all societies, said Maine, succeed in passing through all these stages, and
their legal development in its particular aspects does not show a uniform line. Maine merely
wished to indicate certain general directions and trends of development in the evolution of law.
Modern research has shown that, on the whole, he has succeeded remarkably well in tracing
some of the fundamental lines of a natural history” of the law.

Maine’s comparative analysis of legal evolution was supplemented in the early twentieth century
by the historical studies of Sir Paul Vinogradoff. English historical research also produced such
ripe fruits as Pollock and Maitland’s’ History of English Law before the time of Edward I and
Holdsworth’s History of English Law, as well as a host of specialized treatises and monographs.
What is lacking up to this day is a history of English law which closely correlates legal
developments with the general political, social and cultural history of England.
 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees

aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects
of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The interests of the employees are commonly
presented by representatives of a trade union to which the employees belong. The collective
agreements reached by these negotiations usually set out wage scales, working hours, training,
health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms, and rights to participate in workplace or
company affairs.

The right to collectively bargain is recognized through international human rights conventions.
Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies the ability to organize trade
unions as a fundamental human right.Item 2(a) of the International Labour Organization's
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work defines the "freedom of association
and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining" as an essential right of
workers. The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
(C087) and several other conventions specifically protect collective bargaining through the
creation of international labour standards that discourage countries from violating workers' rights
to associate and collectively bargain.

Essential pre-requisites for collective bargaining~

(i) Existence of a strong representative trade union in the industry that believes in constitutional
means for settling the disputes.
(ii) Existence of a fact-finding approach and willingness to use new methods and tools for the
solution of industrial problems. The negotiation should be based on facts and figures and both
the parties should adopt constructive approach.
iii) Existence of strong and enlightened management which can integrate the different parties,
i.e., employees, owners, consumers and society or Government.
(iv) Agreement on basic objectives of the organisation between the employer and the employees
and on mutual rights and liabilities should be there.
(v) In order that collective bargaining functions properly, unfair labour practices must be avoided
by both the parties.
(vi) Proper records for the problem should be maintained.
(vii) Collective bargaining should be best conducted at plant level. It means if there are more
than one plant of the firm, the local management should be delegated proper authority to
negotiate with the local trade union.
(viii) There must be change in the attitude of employers and employees. They should realise that
differences can be resolved peacefully on negotiating table without the assistance of third party.
(ix) No party should take rigid attitude. They should enter into negotiation with a view to
reaching an agreement.
(x) When agreement is reached after negotiations, it must be in writing incorporating all term of
the contract.
It may be emphasised here that the institution of collective bargaining represents a fair and
democratic attempt at resolving mutual disputes. Wherever it becomes the normal mode of
setting outstanding issues, industrial unrest with all its unpleasant consequences is minimised.

Main Features of Collective Bargaining:

1. It is a Group Action:
Collective bargaining is a group action as opposed to individual action. Both the parties of
settlement are represented by their groups. Employer is represented by its delegates and, on the
other side; employees are represented by their trade union.
2. It is a Continuous Process:
Collective bargaining is a continuous process and does not end with one agreement. It provides a
mechanism for continuing and organised relationship between management and trade union. It is
a process that goes on for 365 days of the year.
3. It is a Bipartite Process:
Collective bargaining is a two party process. Both the parties—employers and employees—
collectively take some action. There is no intervention of any third party. It is mutual given-and-
take rather than take-it-or-leave-it method of arriving at the settlement of a dispute.
4. It is a Process:
Collective bargaining is a process in the sense that it consists of a number of steps. The starting
point is the presentation of charter of demands by the workers and the last step is the reaching of
an agreement, or a contract which would serve as the basic law governing labour-management
relations over a period of time in an enterprise.
5. It is Flexible and Mobile and not Fixed or Static:
It has fluidity. There is no hard and fast rule for reaching an agreement. There is ample scope for
compromise. A spirit of give-and-take works unless final agreement acceptable to both the
parties is reached.
6. It is Industrial Democracy at Work:
Collective bargaining is based on the principle of industrial democracy where the labour union
represents the workers in negotiations with the employer or employers. Industrial democracy is
the government of labour with the consent of the governed—the workers. The principle of
arbitrary unilateralism has given way to that of self-government in industry. Actually, collective
bargaining is not a mere signing of an agreement granting seniority, vacations and wage increase,
by sitting around a table.
7. It is Dynamic:
It is relatively a new concept, and is growing, expanding and changing. In the past, it used to be
emotional, turbulent and sentimental, but now it is scientific, factual and systematic.
8. It is a Complementary and not a Competitive Process:
Collective bargaining is not a competitive process i.e., labour and management do not coopt
while negotiating for the same object. It is essentially a complementary process i.e., each party
needs something which the other party has, namely, labour can put greater productive effort and
management has the capacity to pay for that effort and to organise and guide it for achieving the
enterprise’s objectives.
The behavioural scientists have made a good distinction between “distributive bargaining” and
“integrative bargaining”. The former is the process of dividing up the cake which represents
what has been produced by the joint efforts of management and labour.
In this process, if one party wins something, the other party, to continue the metaphor of the
cake, has a relatively smaller size of the cake. So it is a win-lose’ relationship. The integrative
bargaining, on the other hand, is the process where both the parties can win—each party
contributing something for the benefit of the other party.
 FROM STATUS TO CONTRACT: A THESIS BY HENRY MAINE

Sir Henry Maine’s famous generalization of the movement of his time of progressive societies
from Status to Contract is a widely accepted as an Axiom of social and legal evolution. Meaning
thereby that the rights and duties, capacities and incapacities of the individual are no longer
being fixed by law as a consequence of his belonging to a class.1
Maine made a very valuable contribution to legal philosophy by way of historic comparative
method. He was an erudite scholar of law. He started his career as a professor of civil law in the
University of Cambridge. He was also the law member of the council of governor general of
India between 1861 and 1869. This provided him an opportunity for the study of Indian legal
system ‘Ancient law’, ‘Village communities’, ‘Early History of Institutions’, ‘Dissertation on
Early law and Customs’ are the important contributions made by hi, to legal thought and
philosophy.2

Maine's invaluable work lay chiefly in research into Roman and Hindu Law. His writings almost
always convey a feeling of remoteness from the Common Law. In addition to his general interest
in the institutions of Roman Law, it is clear that in developing his progressive principle of status
to contract he was particularly influenced by the family law of the later Roman Empire, though
his theory of the familial origins of society is based on the wider organisation of many ancient
communities.3
The movement of the progressive societies has been uniform in one respect. Through all its
course it has been distinguished by the gradual dissolution of family dependency and the growth
of individual obligation in its place. The Individual is steadily substituted for the Family, as the
unit of which civil laws take account. The advance has been accomplished at varying rates of
celerity, and there are societies not absolutely stationary in which the collapse of the ancient
organization can only be perceived by careful study of the phenomena they present. But,
whatever its pace, the change has not been subject to reaction or recoil, and apparent retardations
will be found to have been occasioned through the absorption of archaic ideas and customs from

1
RH Graveson, “The movement from status to contract”, Modern Law Review (1941) 261
2
BM Mani Tripathi, Jurisprudence and legal theory (7th edition, Allahabad Law Agency 2005) 34
3
RH Graveson, “The movement from status to contract”, Modern Law Review (1941) 261
some entirely foreign source. Nor is it difficult to see what is the tie between man and man which
replaces by degrees those forms of reciprocity in rights and duties which have their origin in the
Family. It is Contract.4
The word Status may be usefully employed to construct a formula expressing the law of progress
thus indicated, which, whatever be its value, seems to me to be sufficiently ascertained. All the
forms of Status taken notice of in the Law of Persons were derived from, and to some extent are
still coloured by, the powers and privileges anciently residing in the Family. If then we employ
Status, agreeably with the usage of the best writers, to signify these personal conditions only, and
avoid applying the term to such conditions as are the immediate or remote result of agreement,
we may say that the movement of the progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from
Status to Contract.

Static and progressive societies: Further development by legal fiction, equity and
legislation.
The societies which do not progress beyond fourth stage (the codification stage) which closes the
era of spontaneous legal development are static societies (as Maine calls them). The Societies
which go on developing their law by new methods are called progressive. Progressive Societies
develop their laws by three methods: legal fiction, equity and legislation. Legal fiction changes
the law according to the changing need of the society without making any changes in the letter of
the law. Equity consists of those principles which are considered to be invested with a higher
sacredness than those of the positive law. It is used to modify the rigour of law. Legislation
comes in the last which is most direst and systematic method of law making.5

Movement of Progressive societies (such as India) from Status to contract

Maine noted that the development of law in and other social institutions has been same or on
identical pattern in almost all the ancient societies belonging to Hindu, Roman, Anglo-Saxon,
Hebrew and Germanic Communities as most of these communities were on patriarchal pattern
wherein the eldest male parent called pater familias dominated the entire family including all

4
http://www.panarchy.org/maine/contract.html accessed on 18 march 2015
5
BM Mani Tripathi, Jurisprudence and legal theory (7th edition, Allahabad Law Agency 2005) 35
male and female members, children and slaves as also the property. The word of the pater pater
familias was law for them, which they were supposed to follow. There were also some societies
which followed matriarchal where in the eldest female in the family the central authority to
manage all the affairs of the family was. It is because of his kinship, namely blood relationship
with family that person acquired the status. Thus the law of the person was to be determined on
the basis of his status. In ancient societies, the Slave, servant, ward, wife, citizen etc. all
symbolized statuses which the law recognized in the interest of the community. 6
It was because of this approach that the rights of the individuals were governed by their status in
the society that the servants and slaves had no rights in the eyes of the law. However as the
society progressed the movement was from the status to contract that is now the individual rights
were no longer a subject matter of status.
With the march of time the system of pater familias withered away and now the rights and
obligations were dependent upon the individual contracts and free negotiations between persons.
This led to disintegration of the family system and emergence of contractual relations between
individuals. In other word now the individual can take decisions himself without being
dependent upon headman of the family.7
The Benthamite Doctrine of individual’s freedom freed the slaves from the bondage of their
masters and now they could have rights and obligations like any other person. This led to
emergence of a free society with freedom of individual in various spheres of life.
The freedom of individual in economic field has been called as the doctrine of lassiez faire which
struck a blow to the notion of the status as the basis of law. These changes in the patter of
societies led Sir henry Maine to conclude that “the movement of progressive societies has
hitherto been from status to contract” he however qualified his proposition by using the word
‘hitherto’ making it clear that this generalization may not necessarily hold true in future.8
In India also emancipation of women from the domination of males, freedom available to
individuals in social, economis and political spheres of life, improvement in the condition of
labours and workers etc evinces that there has been a shift of emphasis from status to contract in
modern times.

STAGES AND LEVELS OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN INDIA

6
NV Paranjape, Studies in Jurisprudence and legal theory (8th edition, Central Law Agency 2015) 59
7
Ibid
8
Ibid
Collective bargaining is possible at all levels, such as
 At the level of the enterprise,
 It may be at the level of the industry in a particular region.
 At the level of the entire industry in the country, that is, at
the national level.
From the point of view of an individual establishment, enterprise-level bargaining is generally
useful in the sense that the settlement is tailored to the conditions of that organization. In most of
the South East Asian countries, the enterprise level Bargaining is predominant.
The five stages involved in bargaining process are as follows:
1. Pre-negotiation
2. Negotiators
3. Negotiation
4. Agreement or Contract
5. Implementation of Agreement.
1. Pre-negotiation:
This is the first stage involved in a bargaining process is also known as ‘preparation for
negotiation’. In other words, it refers to homework for negotiation. That the prenegotiation stage
of the bargaining process is vital is duly confirmed by the fact that “up to 83 per cent of the
outcomes of the negotiations are greatly influenced by prenegotiation stage”. Both parties, i.e.,
the management and the workers need to make preparation for bargaining. This is discussed
separately as follows:
Preparation by Management: It is very important for the management to study very carefully the
labour organisation, or say, labour union with which they are to negotiate or bargain. This may
include studying the strength of the union, their contracts with other industries, the background
and personality characteristics of the union negotiators, etc.
The management should also know what similar organisations are doing in the particular matter,
and what is expected from the economy in the near future. What can it expect the union to ask
for? What is management prepared to acquiesce on? The management should understand the
bargaining power of the union and should devise its bargaining strategy accordingly.
For example, if the demand for the company’s product or service has been high, management
will be reluctant to absorb a strike, even one of short duration. On the other hand, if the business
is passing through slackness, management will be least willing to concede to union demands and
may be prepared to accept a lengthy strike.
2. Negotiators-
On the company side, the particular negotiator may be any one of a number of persons. It may be
the industrial relations officer, the head of the particular area such as production area, an office
bearer like executive vice-president, or even the company lawyer. In order to broaden the base of
participation, the practice of allowing all major divisional heads to participate and a few
supervisors to observe on a rotating basis has great advantages in bargaining process.
3. Negotiation:
Once the first two stages are completed, both the parties come to the negotiation table at a time
and place for this purpose. Customarily, negotiation process starts by the union representatives
delivering an extravagant and long list of demands. Expectedly, the initial response from the
management is usually as extreme as that of the union. The management counters the union
demands by offering little more than what was agreed in the previous contract.
This tug of war goes on from both the sides. In the process, each party assesses the relative
priorities of the other’s demands. This takes them in a situation when attempt is made to get
management’s highest offer to approximate the lowest demands that the union is willing to
accept.
Thus, each group compromises by giving up some of its demands so that an agreement can be
arrived at when they actually arrive at an agreement; this is converted into a written contract. In
case, both parties do not reach to any agreement, then it is called deadlock or breakdown or
bargaining impasse.

4. Agreement or Contract:
After both parties have arrived at an informal agreement either in the normal/initial process or
through overcoming bargaining impasse, it is written. The written form of the agreement usually
consists of the terms and conditions of agreement, the date from which it comes into effect, the
duration for which it will remain in operation and the names of the signatories of the agreement.
The agreement so prepared is then sent to the labourers and management for its ratification and
approval. The representatives of both the parties may not have ultimate authority to decide some
issues referred to collective bargaining and included in the agreement. These need to be ratified
by both the parties.
The agreement needs to be duly ratified because of legal provisions. According to the Section 18
(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, “an agreement shall be binding only on the parties to the
agreement.” This implies that any collective bargaining agreement does not apply automatically
to all workers of an organisation. The agreement becomes official once approved, ratified, and
signed by labour and management representatives.

The collective agreement is variously known as “labour contract”, “union contract”, or “labour-
management agreement”. Union members and members of management all receive copies of the
agreement or contract. The agreement stipulates in formal terms the nature of the relationship
between labour and management for the ensuing period of time as agreed in negotiation.
5. Implementation of Agreement:
Once an agreement is ratified and approved, what next remains left is its implementation. The
way it will be implemented is indicated in the agreement itself .The agreement must be
implemented with full magnanimity in terms of its letter and spirit by both the parties from the
date of its operation as mentioned in the agreement. This is the duty of the Human Resource
Department to ensure the proper and full implementation of all provisions given in the
agreement. One of the most important elements involved in agreement implementation is
spelling out of a procedure for handling grievances arisen out of collective agreement. In
practice, almost all collective- bargaining agreements contain formal procedures to be used in
resolving grievances over the interpretation and application of the agreement. Hence, the
grievances, if any, need to be resolved accordingly.
 Landmark cases pertaining to Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining
agreements in India

There are various cases that have played a major role in interpreting and shaping the law on trade
unions in India. A few of these cases have been mentioned below:
i. The case of All India Bank Employees’ Association v. N.I.Tribunal 58 laid down the rights
of the members of the trade unions that are encompassed within the fundamental right to
freedom of expression and speech, i.e. Article 19(1)(c)59:
ɵ The right of the members of the union to meet,
ɵ The right of the members to move from place to place,
ɵ The right to discuss their problems and propagate their views, and
ɵ The right of the members to hold property,
However, the case held that Article 19(1)(c) does not account for a right pertaining to the
achievement of the all the objectives for which the trade union was formed. Say for example, if
one of the objectives for formation of trade union was to push the employer for raising the
wages, the trade union cannot, as a matter of right, ask the employer to fulfil the objective of
increasing wages of the workers. The case also stated that strikes by trade unions may be
controlled or restricted by appropriate industrial legislation.
ii. Another case which is of much importance is the case of B. Srinivasa Reddy v. Karnataka
Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board Employees’ Association wherein it has been held
that an unregistered trade union or a trade union whose registration has been cancelled has no
rights either under the TU Act or the IDA. This case highlights the importance with respect to
registration of trade unions.
iii. In the case of B.R Singh v. Union of India the court has recognized “strike” as a mode of
redress for resolving the grievances of workers.
iv. In MRF United Workers Union rep. by its General Secretary v. Respondent:
Government of Tamil Nadu rep. by its Secretary, Labour and Employment Department
and Ors., the court has highlighted the validity of procedure for recognition of a trade union.
When the State government accepts a particular procedure for recognition, it shall direct the
Labour Commissioner to call upon two unions to submit their membership details as per the
Code of Discipline. Subsequently, the Labour Commissioner shall decide as to which Union is a
true representative union of workmen and give it a genuine recognition. Further, the court cannot
permit management to claim that the Union which shows larger membership after recognition
will not be recognized by management.
v. In Balmer Lawrie Workers’ Union, Bombay and Anr. v. Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. and
Ors.,63 the underlying assumption made by the SC was that a recognised union represents all the
workmen in the industrial undertaking or in the industry. This case was also referred to in the
MRF United Workers case.
vi. In Kalindi and Others v. Tata Locomotive and Engineering Co. Ltd the SC held that there
is no right to representation as such unless the company, by its standing orders, recognizes such
right. The decision was reiterated in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. v. Maharashtra General.
Kamgar Union & Ors.
vii. In Food Corporation of India Staff Union vs. Food Corporation of India and Others ,
the SC laid down norms and procedure to be followed for assessing the representative character
of trade unions by the ‘secret ballot’ system.
 CONCLUSION

Collective Bargaining is the process of joint decision making and basically represents a
democratic way of life in industry. For the success of collective bargaining the process must
begin with proposals rather than demands and the parties should be ready and willing to
compromise otherwise the whole idea of collective bargaining would be frustrated. In Indian
context, the problem lies in the fact that in the absence of any statutory provisions at Central
Level for the recognition of a representative trade union by an employer affects the bargaining
power of the trade union. In addition, besides, unorganised labour being a hurdle, the unions are
generally weak. Rivalry on the basis of caste, creed, and religion is another characteristic of
Indian Trade Unions which come in the way of successful collective bargaining. Further,
division of union on the basis of political ideologies and weak financial position retards the
growth of Trade Unions.
Therefore, it is recommended that India should provides for a recognition of the Trade Union at
the central level, so that peace and harmony with the management and workers can be
maintained, which in turn can provide better service to the community and hence lead to the
growth and development of the economy. In fact, India is under international obligations to
provide effective mechanism for collective bargaining. In this regard, it is also recommended
that India can ratify ILO Conventions No. 87 of 1948 and No. 98 of 1949 – both of these
conventions assure the right to effective collective bargaining. In short, we may say that the time
has come for repeating the history.
As per Sir Henry Maine, the progressive society move from status to contract. However, given
the necessity of collective bargaining as an effective tool for the settlement of industrial dispute,
the progressive society has to move otherwise i.e; from contract to status rather than from status
to contract.
Historically, in India, the function of the trade unions was limited largely to collective bargaining
for economic considerations. However, trade unions now play a major role in employee welfare
activities, cultural programs and banking and medical facilities and by creating awareness
through training and educating the members of the trade union. On the other hand, the dominant
managerial objectives in collective bargaining in recent years owing to heightened competition
have been to reduce labour costs, increase production or productivity, flexibility in work
organization (multi-skilling /multifunctioning, changes in worker grades etc.), increase in work
time, reduction in regular staff strength via VRS, stress on quality and so on. Despite certain
recent developments which may be largely considered as one-off incidents, most trade unions
have managed to foster an environment so as to enable a healthy discussion between the workers
and employers with respect to any demands the workers may have. Furthermore, trade unions in
India have, over the period of time, ensured to provide a forum to facilitate better industrial
relations, industrial growth and improve productivity.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources~
1. Books~
a) Industrial Jurisprudence: A critical commentary by E.M. Rao
b) Social Justice and Labour Jurisprudence by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
c) From Status to Contract: Domesticating Modernity by Foreman violeta

Secondary Sources~
1. Websites~
a) http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1441/Pre-Requisites-and-Process-of-
Collective-Bargaining.html
b) https://academic.oup.com/
c) https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/collective-bargaining/collective-bargaining-
definition-types-features-and-importance/31375