Emerging legal scenario in union relations

Abstract

Purpose of Study: In every country s industrial development, Trade union plays a vital role and the relations between Employer and the unions should be cordial for smooth functioning of any industry. From the beginning of Trade union movement there has been an effort to unite labour under one umbrella on industrial lines and thereby emerged the concept of Industrial Unionism which ultimately culminated to the concept One Union for One Industry . In Indian Railways secret ballot elections have been conducted in 2007 and 2013 to implement the policy of One Union and this exercise was not fully successful in implementing the concept. This paper intends to study the evolution of this concept in India and in Indian Railways and try to find out the reasons for failure in implementing it. Further it studies systems in the countries like USA, Britain and Australia to find out some parallels and policy precedents in this regard and derive some policy alternatives for Indian context. Methodology: Firstly, the study details about evolution of One Union concept in India and Indian Railways. Hind Mazdoor Sabha(HMS), a non political union was the driving fo rce for Trade union unity and One Union concept in India. In Indian Railways, All India Railwaymen s Federation(AIRF), an affiliate of HMS, stresses for One Union for One Industry. After a brief success of unity in 1950s, Indian Railways have two recognised unions throughout next 50 years. In 2002 the NDA government at centre offered recognition to one more union in Indian Railways. Subsequently HMS affiliated Southern Railway Mazdoor Union filed a court case and at the end of legal battle Supreme Court of India ordered for secret ballot to decide One Union issue in Indian Railways. Secondly, the study details about results of secret ballot elections and about the failure of secret ballot exercise to establish One Union system and the reasons therein. Secret ballot elections were conducted twice in 2007 and 2013 since inception. In both the times only 5 zonal railways out of 16 got single union success. The failure of the exercise to establish One Union system in all Indian Railways is analysed and the reasons for failure was attributed to modalities of secret ballot elections. It also finds that problem of fragmented unions remains as it was. Thirdly, the study traces similar scenarios in the countries like USA, Britain and Australia and find out how these countries took the policy initiatives to address the problem of union recognition with single bargaining union and the problem of fragmented unions and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of those policies and their implementation. Fourthly, the study tries to derive some policy alternatives to solve the said policy problems from the lessons learnt from the international perspective.FindingsIn USA, the Railway Labour Act 1926 which covers both Rail and Airline industries has set procedure to conduct secret ballot election to select monopolist bargaining union. As per the act originally, the union which secure majority of votes of the total electorate will get recognition. Recently an amendment stipulates it as the union which secure the majo rity of the total vote casted in the election will get recognition. In Britain, Employees Relations Act 1999 has set procedure for union recognition as the union which secures majority of the total vote casted and minimum of 40% vote of the total electorate will get recognised. In Australia the problem of fragmented unions has been dealt successfully by the initiative of Australian Council of Trade Unions with the support from government with policy interventions by abolishing the 50% vote limit for union mergers and by rising membership limit for union registration from 1000 to 10000. Recommendations From the international perspectives on said policy problems some solutions have been derived and policy alternatives have been recommended. For the problem of union recognition with single bargaining union the following two policy alternatives are suggested 1) Having modality similar with RLA of USA i.e, securing majority of the vote casted 2) Having British system of securing majority of the vote casted with minimum 40% of total electorate 3) Enacting a new law on the basis of either RLA of USA or Employees Relations Act of UK or amending the existing law to that effect for recognition of Trade Unions. While suggesting about the trade-off in between these three alternatives it was suggested that among the three, the system of USA will be suitable for labour friendly India.For the problem of fragmented unions the following policy alternatives are suggested .1)Enacting a law to establish one union system in each bargaining unit with enabling provisions for union merger. 2) Amendment of Trade Union Act 1926 in order to increasethe number of minimum membership requirement for union registration. While suggesting about trade-offs in between the two alternatives it was suggested that both the options seems to be implementable. Conclusion : Industrial Relations scenario in every country is changing due to liberalization policies of governments and India is also under going the same phase at present and the changes in labour laws are inevitable now. Hence from the international perspectives it is learnt that the only requirement to bring about the change is Political Will . That is, willingness of the government only can bring desired changes.