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Final Trade Union Act, 1926
Final Trade Union Act, 1926
Act,1926
INTRODUCTION
● The Trade Union Act of 1926 consists of total five chapters.
● The Act consists of a total of 33 chapters.
● The Act was passed in the year 1926 and was brought to effect from 1927.
● The Act extends to whole of the India and applies to all those labour unions
and employer associations which aim at effectively regularize the employer
and worker relationship.
● The main objective of the Act is to provide effective mechanism for
registration, regulation, benefits and protection of trade unions in the
territory of India.
History of trade unionism in India
● In India, trade unions are the result of large scale industrial development and they did not grew out
of any of the existing institutions present in the society.
● The Bombay Mill-Hands Association was the first labour association of India and it was founded by
N.M. Lokhande in 1890.
● Madras Labour Union is the first properly registered trade-union founded by B.P. Wadia in the year
1918.
● The first trade union federation of India is All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), it was formed in
the year 1920 after the International Labour Organization expressed its concern about the absence
of any trade union in the country which was not under the control and influence of political parties in
the country.
● Many commissions formed during the colonial period emphasized on the formation of trade unions
in India for eg. The Royal Commission on labour or Whitley commission on labour which was set up
in the year 1929-30 recommended that the problems created by modern industrialization in India are
similar to the problems it created elsewhere in the world and the only solution left is the formation of
strong trade unions to alleviate the labours from their miserable condition and exploitation.
Development of trade union law in India
● Labour legislation in India aims at establishment of social justice in the country.
● The growth of labour legislation in India has been accelerated by external and internal factors.
Formation of International Labour Organisation is an example of external factors and internal factors
includes Swaraj movement of 1921-24, the royal commission on labour also paved the way for
various labour laws and also encouraged the framers of the constitution to incorporate such laws in
the constitution which will benefit the labourers. Under the constitution, labour is the subject of the
concurrent list and both center and state can make laws related to the subject.
● Different labour laws in country are:
➔ Apprentices Act, 1961
➔ Contract labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970
➔ Employees’ provident funds and misc. Provision Act, 1952
➔ Factories Act, 1948
➔ Minimum wages Act, 1948
➔ Trade Union Act, 1926
Registration of trade unions in India
Section 3 to Section 14 of the Trade Union Act of 1926 contains the provisions related to registration of
trade unions in India. Section 3 to 14 states the following:
Trade Disputes
Section 8 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 define trade dispute, according to the Act, industrial dispute
refers to any dispute which arises between the employers and the workers and it is usually in connection
with any one of the following:
● employment or non-employment,
● the terms or conditions of the employment
● Something which affects the employment of any person.
Essential conditions for collective bargaining
● Favourable political and social climate
● Trade union
● Problem solving attitude
● Continuous dialogue