Unfair labor practices - on the part of employer and on the part of employee

Unfair Labour Practices

Industrial Dispute Act 1947 mentions clearly what are unfair labour practices on the part of employers and on the part of employees. The fifth schedule of this act consist of list of unfair labour practices on the part of employers and trade unions of employers and unfair labour practices on the part of workmen and trade unions of workmen.

[Section 2(ra)]

THE FIFTH SCHEDULE : Unfair Labour Practices

I. ON THE PART OF EMPLOYERS AND TRADE UNIONS OF EMPLOYERS

(1) To interfere with, restrain from, or coerce, workmen in the exercise of their right to organize, form, join or assist a trade union or to engage in concerted activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, that is to say.-

(a) threatening workmen with discharge or dismissal, if they join a trade union;

(b) threatening a lock-out or closure, if a trade union is organized;

(c) granting wage increase to workmen at crucial periods of trade union organization, with a view to undermining the efforts of the trade union at organization.

(2) To dominate, interfere with or contribute support, financial or otherwise, to any trade union, that is to say,

(a) an employer taking an active interest in organizing a trade union of his workmen; and

(b) an employer showing partiality or granting favor to one of several trade unions attempting to organize his workmen or to its members, where such a trade union is not a recognized trade union.

(3) To establish employer sponsored trade unions of workmen.

(4) To encourage or discourage membership in any trade union by discriminating against any workman, that is to say,

(a) discharging or punishing a workman, because he urged other workmen to join or organize a trade union;

(b) discharging or dismissing a workman for taking part in any strike (not being a strike which is deemed to be an illegal strike under this Act);

(c) changing seniority rating or workmen because of trade union activities;

(d) refusing to promote workmen of higher posts on account of their trade union activities;

(e) giving unmerited promotions to certain workmen with a view to creating discord amongst other workmen, or to undermine the strength of their trade union;

(f) discharging office-bearers or active members of the trade union on account of their trade union activities.

(5) To discharge or dismiss workmen-

(a) by way of victimization;

(b) not in good faith, but in the colorable exercise of the employer’s rights;

(c) by falsely implicating a workman in a criminal case on false evidence or on concocted evidence;

(d) for patently false reasons;

(e) on untrue or trumped up allegations of absence without leave;

(f) in utter disregard of the principles of natural justice in the conduct of domestic enquiry or with undue haste;

(g) for misconduct of a minor technical character, without having any regard to the nature of the particular misconduct or the past record or service of the workman, thereby leading to a disproportionate punishment.

(6) To abolish the work of a regular nature being done by workmen, and to give such work to contractors as a measure of breaking a strike.

(7) To transfer a workman mala fide from one place to another, under the guise of following management policy.

(8) To insist upon individual workmen, who are on a legal strike to sign a good conduct bond, as a precondition to allowing them to resume work.

(9) To show favoritism or partiality to one set of workers regardless of merit.

(10) To employ workmen as "badlis", casuals or temporaries and to continue them as such for years, with the object of depriving them of the status and privileges of permanent workmen.

(11) To discharge or discriminate against any workman for filing charges or testifying against an employer in any enquiry or proceeding relating to any industrial dispute.

(12) To recruit workman during a strike which is not an illegal strike.

(13) Failure to implement award, settlement or agreement.

(14) To indulge in acts of force or violence.

(15) To refuse to bargain collectively, in good faith with the recognized trade unions.

(16) Proposing or continuing a lock-out deemed to be illegal under this Act.

Court charges Sun Pharma with unfair labour practices

The Mumbai Industrial Court has ruled that Sun Pharmaceutical Industries adopted unfair labour practices by holding back salaries of 86 sales promotion employees since May after they protested planned changes in service conditions.

In an interim order on July 29, the court directed India's largest drug maker to pay the staff and directed the company not to terminate employees without following the due procedure of law. The court rejected other forms of relief sought in the petition filed by a union representing the staffers, who wanted full payment with 18% interest on dues.

According to the petition filed by the Federation of Medical & Sales Representative Associations of India, Sun Pharma had "victimised" the 86 employees and stopped paying them salaries and reimbursements. The employees are from the Stancare division, which sells the popular Storvas brand as part of a range of cardiovascular drugs. The division has about 140 staffers. Among various issues, the union allegedly protested against changes in certain service conditions proposed by the company.

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/53482604.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

II. ON THE PART OF WORKMEN AND TRADE UNIONS OF WORKMEN

(1) To advise or actively support or instigate any strike deemed to be illegal under this Act.

(2) To coerce workmen in the exercise of their right to self-organization or to join a trade union or refrain from, joining any trade union, that is to say-

(a) for a trade union or its members to picketing in such a manner that non-striking workmen are physically debarred from entering the work places;

(b) to indulge in acts of force or violence or to hold out threats of intimidation in connection with a strike against non-striking workmen or against managerial staff.

(3) For a recognized union to refuse to bargain collectively in good faith with the employer.

(4) To indulge in coercive activities against certification of a bargaining representative.

(5) To stage, encourage or instigate such forms of coercive actions as willful, ,"go-slow", squatting on the work premises after working hours or "gherao" of any of the members of the managerial or other staff.

(6) To stage demonstrations at the residence of the employers or the managerial staff members.

(7) To incite or indulge in willful damage to employer’s property connected with the industry.

(8) To indulge in acts of force or violence or to hold out threats of intimidation against any workman with a view to prevent him from attending work.]

Prohibition of unfair labor practice

According to [section 25T]

No employer or workman or a trade union, whether registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926), or not, shall commit any unfair labor practice.

Penalty for committing unfair labor practices

According to [section 25U]

Any person who commits any unfair labor practice shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 6 months or with fine which may extend to Rs.1000/- or with both.