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1. Disabilities of Unregistered Union: A trade union shall not enjoy any of the rights, immunities or privileges of a registered trade union unless it is registered.

2. Immunity from Civil Suit in Certain Cases: No suit or other legal proceeding shall be maintainable in any civil court against any registered trade union or any officer or member thereof in respect of any act done in contemplation or in furtherance of a trade dispute to which a member of the trade union is a party on the ground only that such act induces some other person to break a contract of employment, or that it is an interference with the trade, business or employment of some other person or with the right of some other person to dispose of his capital or of his labour as he will

3. Liability in Tort:

(1) A suit against a registered trade union or against any members or officers thereof on behalf of themselves and all other members of the trade union in respect of any tortuous act alleged to have been committed by or on behalf of the trade union shall not be entertained by any court.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the liability of a trade union or any trustee or officers thereof to be sued in any court touching or concerning the specific property or rights of a trade union or in respect of any tortuous act arising substantially out of the use of any specific property of a trade union except in respect of an act committed by or on behalf of the trade union in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute.

4. Liability in Contract: Every registered trade union shall be liable on any contract entered into by it or by an agent acting on its behalf: Provided that a trade union shall not be so liable on any contract which is void or unenforceable at law.

5. Objects in Restraint of Trade Not Unlawful in Case of Registered Trade Union: The objects of a registered trade union shall not, by reason only that they are in restraint of trade be deemed to be unlawful so as to render any member of such trade union liable to criminal prosecution for conspiracy or otherwise or to render void or voidable any agreement or trust.

6. Proceedings By and Against Trade Unions:

1. A registered trade union may sue and be sued and be prosecuted under its registered name.

2. An unregistered trade union may be sued and prosecuted under the name by which it has been operating or is generally known.

3. A trade union whose registration has been cancelled or withdrawn may be sued and prosecuted under the name by which it was registered.

4. Execution for any money recovered from a trade union in civil proceedings may issue against any property belonging to or held in trust for the trade union other than the benevolent fund of a registered trade union.

5. Any fine ordered to be paid by a trade union may be recovered by distress and sale of any movable property belonging to or held in trust for the trade union in accordance with any written law relating to criminal procedure.

6. In any civil or criminal proceedings in which a registered trade union is a party such trade union may appear in such proceedings by anyone of its officers or by an advocate and solicitor.

7. Strikes and Lock-outs:

1. No trade union of workmen shall call for a strike, and no member thereof shall go on strike, and no trade union of employers shall declare a lock-out –

a) in the case of a trade union of workmen, without first obtaining the consent by secret ballot of at least two-thirds of its total number of members who are entitled to vote and in respect of whom the strike is to be called; and in the case of a trade union of employers, without first obtaining by secret ballot the consent of at least two-thirds of its total number of members who are entitled to vote;

b) before the expiry of seven days after submitting to the Director General the results of such secret ballot in accordance with section 40 (5);

c) if the secret ballot for the proposed strike or lock-out has become invalid or of no effect by virtue of section 40 (2), (3), (6) or (9);

d) in contravention of, or without complying with, the rules of the trade union;

e) in respect of any matter covered by a direction or decision of the Minister given or made in any appeal to him under this Act; or

f) in contravention of, or without complying with, any other provision of this Act or any provision of any other written law.

2. Any trade union which, and every member of its executive who, commences, promotes, organises or finances any strike or lock-out which is in contravention of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two

3. Any member of a trade union of workmen who commences, participates in, or otherwise acts in furtherance of, any strike which is in contravention of subsection (1) shall forthwith cease to be a member of the trade union, and thereafter such member shall not be eligible to become a member of any trade union except with the prior approval of the Director General in writing; and the trade union of which he has so ceased to be a member shall forthwith –

a) remove the name of such member from its membership register;

b) inform the Director General and the member concerned of such removal; and

c) exhibit conspicuously in its registered office in a place where it may be easily read a list of members whose names are so removed.

4. The Director General may, where he is satisfied that subsection (1) has been contravened by any person and the trade union concerned has failed to carry out the provisions of subsection (3), or where there is undue delay in so doing, after such investigation as he deems necessary, order the trade union to remove forthwith the names of the members concerned from its membership register.

5. The satisfaction of the Director General under subsection (4) that subsection (1) has been contravened by any person may be arrived at regardless as to whether or not there is any prosecution of any person for contravention of the said subsection (1).

6. Any registered trade union which, and every member of its executive who, fails to comply with subsection (3) or with an order of the Director General under subsection (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit, and a further fine of one hundred ringgit for every day during which such offence continues.

7. In every proceeding for an offence under this section the onus of proving that the requirements specified in subsection (1) have been complied with shall be on the trade union, the member of its executive or the member of the trade union, as the case may be.

Thousand ringgit, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both, and a further fine of one hundred ringgit for every day during which such offence continues.

The existence of a strong and recognized trade union is a pre-requisite to industrial peace. Decisions taken through the process of collective bargaining and negotiations between employer and unions are more influential. Trade unions play an important role and are helpful in effective communication between the workers and the management. They provide the advice and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts. The central function of a trade union is to represent people at work. But they also have a wider role in protecting their interests. They also play an important educational role, organizing courses for their members on a wide range of matters. Seeking a healthy and safe working environment is also prominent feature of union activity.

Trade unions help in accelerated pace of economic development in many ways as follows:

• By helping in the recruitment and selection of workers. 
• By inculcating discipline among the workforce 
• By enabling settlement of industrial disputes in a rational manner 
• By helping social adjustments. Workers have to adjust themselves to the new working conditions, the new rules and policies. Workers coming from different backgrounds may become disorganized, unsatisfied and frustrated. Unions help them in such adjustment.

Trade unions are a part of society and as such, have to take into consideration the national integration as well.

Some important social responsibilities of trade unions include:

• Promoting and maintaining national integration by reducing the number of industrial disputes 
• Incorporating a sense of corporate social responsibility in workers achieving industrial peace.

Trade Union Act was established in the year 1926. TU is any association (temporary /permanent) for the purpose of regulating the relationship between employers-workers, employer-employer, worker-worker for imposing restrictive conditions on trade practices. It also includes federation of unions referred as association of professional persons. In countries like England, trade union is referred as association of professional person. In India it is considered as cursi - union /semi- union. In America, TU is considered as the association of all persons in a trade.

Functions of TU: functions can be categorized into:

1. Militant /protective

2. Positive/fraternal.

3. Intramural/extramural 

1. Militant /protective: as the name suggests it protects their members, aims at securing better conditions of work, employment for members. It uses instruments like strikes, lockouts etc. for protecting the interest of their members. 
2. Positive/fraternal: It provides financial support to their members during time of temporary unemployment. 
3. Intramural/extramural: intramural refers to welfare schemes & activities within the framework of factory premises (safety, secure working environment, minimum wages, minimum working hours, and leave with wages) Extramural refers to the welfare schemes outside the factory premises (medical assistance, health care, education etc.) 

TU are born out of the necessities of the workers to protect and defend them from injustice, encroachment and wrong. Unions classified according to purpose: Under this head, normally two types of unions have been kept

1) Reformist

2) Revolutionary

1. Reformist Unions: These unions are those which aim at the preservation of the capitalist society and maintenance of the usual employer-employee relationship, elimination of competitive system of production. The reformist unions have been subdivided by hoxie according to the objectives: into business unions and uplift unionism. 
2. Revolutionary Unions: These unions aim at destroying the present structure completely and replacing it with new and different institution according to the ideas that are regarded as preferable. The revolutionary unionism is also of two types namely, anarchist and political. Dr horie also enumerates a third type of unionism namely predatory unions and gorilla union.

According to membership structure there are four types of Trade unions:

1.Craft unionism 

2. staff unionism,

3. Industrial union and

4.general union.

1. Craft Union: Workers, those are working in same as similar type of work/trade/business. They have similar skills, specialization. Members are mostly non manual workers. Members are craft conscious than class conscious .They take the membership on the basis of similar type of work. They strengthen their union by integration of their members. 
2. Staff Union: Organization, those are basing upon a sense of common status, same type of need. They try to seek their membership from non manual sectors of the economy like clerical, supervisors, operators, technicians, craftsmen etc. Unique feature of staff union was women workers were also members of staff union. Staff union gained popularity by taking women workers as their members.
3. Industrial Union: Irrespective of crafts, skill, grade, position, gender etc. The workers working in one industry were members of industrial union. This union is more class conscious than trade conscious. 
4. General union: It covers all types of industries. Labor class people from any type of industry can be members of general union. It is more open than the industrial unions. Their numerical strength is high.

Trade unions perform a number of functions in order to achieve the objectives.

These functions can be broadly classified into two categories:

1. Militant Functions

2. Fraternal Functions

1. Militant Functions

One set of activities performed by trade unions leads to the betterment of the position of their members in relation to their employment. The aim of such activities is to ensure adequate wages secure better conditions of work and employment get better treatment from employers, etc. When the unions fail to accomplish these aims by the method of collective bargaining and negotiations, they adopt an approach and put up a fight with the management in the form of go-slow tactics, strike, boycott, gherao, etc. Hence, these functions of the trade unions are known as militant or fighting functions. Thus, the militant functions of trade unions can be summed up as:

• To achieve higher wages and better working conditions 
• To raise the status of workers as a part of industry 
• To protect labors against victimization and injustice

2. Fraternal Functions

Another set of activities performed by trade unions aims at rendering help to its members in times of need, and improving their efficiency. Trade unions try to foster a spirit of cooperation and promote friendly industrial relations and diffuse education and culture among their members. They take up welfare measures for improving the morale of workers and generate self confidence among them. They also arrange for legal assistance to its members, if necessary. Besides, these, they undertake many welfare measures for their members, e.g., school for the education of children, library, reading-rooms, in-door and out-door games, and other recreational facilities. Some trade unions even undertake publication of some magazine or journal. These activities, which may be called fraternal functions, depend on the availability of funds, which the unions raise by subscription from members and donations from outsiders, and also on their competent and enlightened leadership. Thus, the fraternal functions of trade unions can be summed up as:

• To take up welfare measures for improving the morale of workers 
• To generate self confidence among workers 
• To encourage sincerity and discipline among workers
• To provide opportunities for promotion and growth 
• To protect women workers against discrimination

Trade union is a direct product of Industrialization and a very recent development. In India, the foundation of modern industry was laid between 1850 and 1870. Prior to that trade was confined to individuals and families like craftsmen and artisans. They had expertise and specialized skills which was inherited by their off springs. After Industrial revolution, these people started losing their individual identities and had to join factories to earn their livelihood and compete with mass production. There was a psychological dislocation as they were losing their identities.

Indian trade union movement can be divided into three phases.

The first phase falls between 1850 and 1900 during which the inception of trade unions took place. During this period of the growth of Indian Capitalist enterprises, the working and living conditions of the labour were poor and their working hours were long. Capitalists were only interested in their productivity and profitability. In addition to long working hours, their wages were low and general economic conditions were poor in industries. In order to regulate the working hours and other service conditions of the Indian textile labourers, the Indian Factories Act was enacted in 1881. As a result, employment of child labour was prohibited. Mr. N M Lokhande organized people like Rickshawalas etc., prepared a study report on their working conditions and submitted it to the Factory Labour Commission. The Indian Factory Act of 1881 was amended in 1891 due to his efforts. Guided by educated philanthropists and social workers like Mr. Lokhande, the growth of trade union movement was slow in this phase. Many strikes took place in the two decades following 1880 in all industrial cities. These strikes taught workers to understand the power of united action even though there was no union in real terms. Small associations like Bombay MillHands Association came up.

The second phase of The Indian trade union movement falls between 1900 and 1947. this phase was characterized by the development of organized trade unions and political movements of the working class. It also witnessed the emergence of militant trade unionism. The First World War (1914-1918) and the Russian revolution of 1917 gave a new turn to the Indian trade union movement and organized efforts on part of the workers to form trade unions. In 1918, B P Wadia organized trade union movements with Textile mills in Madras. He served strike notice to them and workers appealed to Madras High Court because under ‘Common Law’, strike is a breach of law. In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi suggested to let individual struggle be a Mass movement. In 1920, the First National Trade union organization (The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)) was established. Many of the leaders of this organization were leaders of the national Movement. In 1926, Trade union law came up with the efforts of Mr. N N Joshi that became operative from 1927.

The third phase began with the emergence of independent India (in 1947), and the Government sought the cooperation of the unions for planned economic development. The working class movement was also politicized along the lines of political parties. For instance Indian national trade Union Congress (INTUC) is the trade union arm of the Congress Party. The AITUC is the trade union arm of the Communist Party of India. Besides workers, white-collar employees, supervisors and managers are also organized by the trade unions, as for example in the Banking, Insurance and Petroleum industries.

LABOUR LAWS 

Law-”Law is a rule or a system of rules recognized by a country or a community as regulating the actions of its members and enforced by the imposition of penalties.”

Factors responsible for development of Labor laws

• Exploitation of the workmen by the capitalists 
• Social pressure and pressure from trade unions 
• Government policies based on Government philosophy which in turn was based on the political ideologies 
• Constitution of India (Directive Principles of state policy) 
• Supreme Court’s recommendations on the cases that came up in the courts 
• Recommendations of various commissions and committees set up by government from time to time 
• Conventions and recommendations of International labor organization (ILO)
• Awareness about environment 

Common Features of All Laws

•  Short title and commencement 
• Preamble i.e. purpose of the law 
• Definitions 148 
• Substantive provisions 
• Penalty provisions 
• Records/ Registers/ Returns 
• Inspectorate/ Enforcement authority
• Categories of Labor Laws Regulatory legislations to oversee the conditions of work at workplace Eg. Machinery arrangement, spittoons, working hours, leave with wages etc. 
• Legislations related to wages Eg. Payment of Wages Act, 1936, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 
• Legislations related to social security Eg. ESI Act, 1948, Employees Provident Fund Act, 1952 
• Legislations related to Industrial Relations (IR) Eg. Industrial disputes Act, 1947, Industrial Employments (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, Trade Union Act, 1926 
• Legislations related to service conditions Eg. Regulations of environment Act (for Dock workers), Conditions of Service Act (for Sales Promotion employees)
• Miscellaneous:

Eg. Apprentices Act, 1961, Environment protection Act, 1986

The trade unionism in India developed quite slowly as compared to the western nations. Indian trade union movement can be divided into three phases.

The Indian workforce consists of 430 million workers, growing 2% annually.

The Indian labor markets consist of three sectors:

1. The rural workers, who constitute about 60 per cent of the workforce.

2. Organized sector, which employs 8 per cent of workforce, and

3. The urban informal sector (which includes the growing software industry and other services, not included in the formal sector) which constitutes the rest 32 per cent of the workforce.

At present there are twelve Central Trade Union Organizations in India:

1. All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)

2. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS)

3. Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)

4. Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP)

5. Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)

6. Indian Federation of Free Trade Unions (IFFTU)

7. Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)

8. National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU)

9. National Labor Organization (NLO)

10.Trade Unions Co-ordination Centre (TUCC)

11.United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) and United Trade Union Congress - Lenin Sarani (UTUC - LS)

Multiple unionism leads to multiple enrolment in unions and no subscribing members, causing delay or failure to get recognition. This restrains a union’s bargaining power during a period of prolonged strife while the unions are squabbling among themselves for dominance, the workers are deprived of their wages and the plant suffers a loss of production. Multiple unionism qualitatively weakens the movement resulting in the formation of small- sized unions without effective organization.

However it must be noted that in spite of foregoing there are many organizations where multiple unions exist and the management does effectively negotiate, and conclude agreements. In many plants, workers are unionized –on a craft basis –their special skills or training bonding them together. Multi-unionism is more a problem where general unions exist, for whom all categories can be organized in one general union.