CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

ABSTRACT
The project paper while dealing with the topic i.e. Unfair Labour Practices under Industrial
Dispute Act, 1947 delves on multi-ferrous aspect of this topic. The first chapter brings out the
definition of the said term as enshrined in the act and is an introduction to the topic. The
second chapter focusses on the ILO and its policy towards workers. Then it also touches
Indian policy with regard to the same. Thus this chapter notably talks about historical
development in this field. Then the third chapter talks about various incentives of the states in
this regard. It is followed by the forth chapter which highlights the further reforms needed in
this field after analysing the status quo. Lastly, this paper ends with apt conclusion which
aims to point the way ahead by analysing the spectrum of the topic.

CONCEPT

The industrial dispute act is a benign measure which seeks to pre-empt industrial tensions,
provide energies of partners in production may not be dissipated in counter-productive battles
and assurances of industrial justice may create a climate of goodwill.
- Krishna Iyer, J.1

The intricate pattern of employer-employee relations has evolved considerably in the last
several decades. After moving from an era of unrestricted laissez faire to a more regulated
labour market operating within the confines of legal framework, it is once again pacing
towards greater deregulation, which has brought about tremendous changes in the individual
employment contract and the labour market as a whole. Such turpitude requires a stalwart
labour legislation to counter it. One of which is the Industrial dispute act, 1947.
Collective bargaining is the touchstone of the act. It is method of regulating employment
relations. It presupposes the existence of two parties, the employer and the workers. The
collectives of workers aligned on one side be organised into trade unions. The need for the
existence of trade unions and in tum, the right of trade unions to function freely and further,
the right of individual members to freely join and participate in the affairs of the trade union
then would, a fortiori, be an indisputable and necessary condition for the efficient functioning
of collective bargaining mechanism. Viewed in this light, any action of either party to the
collective bargaining process which interferes with the formation or existence of unions or in
the participation of individuals in these organisations would hamper the collective bargaining
process and would merit being termed an unfair labour practice.
At the same time collective bargaining also requires that the collective bargaining agent be
identified from among several available collectives of workers - be they trade unions or

1
Life Insurance Corporation v. D.J. Bahadur, (1980) Lab.I.C. 1218 1226 (S.C.).
groups of workers-and further that this bargaining agent has the right, and also the duty, to
negotiate on behalf of the workers, in short be an exclusive bargaining agent. The need to
evolve criteria for determining what have been variously termed as a bargaining agent or a
recognised union is a prerequisite for collective bargaining and the failure to do so or
irregularities in these procedures could also be treated as an unfair labour practice.
In the USA where the expression 'unfair labour practices' was first used, there have been
legislations since 1926 in favour of collective bargaining. The National Labour Relations Act
1935, also known as the Wagner Act noted that the "refusal of the employer to accept
collective bargaining causes strikes and other forms of industrial strife or unrest, which have
the effect of burdening or obstructing commerce". The Labour Management Relations Act
1947 (the Taft-Hartley Act) which replaced the earlier Act, apart from listing unfair labour
practices on the part of the employers, in addition, listed those on the part of the trade unions
too - the idea being to place employers and employees on an equal footing as far as collective
bargaining was concerned.2
Until 1982 the expression unfair labour practice had not been defined in the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947. Section 2(ra) of the Indus- trial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1982 defines
unfair labour practice to mean ''any practices specified in the Fifth Schedule. Although it
was prohibited by way of section 25 T and 25u since the inception.

PROBLEM:
Opportunity to work for its people and providing for dispensation of labour justice to them
are important aspects of social justice responsibility of any state. In third world countries -
and especially in a country like India - these aspects get added significance where a large
percentage of people live below the poverty line and suffer from problems of unemployment
and underemployment and commission of unfair labour practices (ULPs) by employers
against them. A mere 8.3 per cent of the Indian labour force is organised, the majority of
which mainly belongs to the public sector. It is estimated that not more than 2 to 3 per cent of
the labour force in India has access to assertion of labour rights through collective bargaining
process. Working people in all societies - and more so in developing societies such as India -
are highly vulnerable to exploitation at the hands of the inherently more powerful employers.
In fact, India is being viewed as a society where labour is over- protected through law.
Despite that, the cases of labour law violation are many; so much so that often when one sees
the working conditions of the unorganised labourers, it appears as if no labour law exists for
them.Typically the worker as individual has to accept the condition which the employer
offers. On the labour side, power is collective power ...the relation between an employer and
an isolated employee or worker is typically a relation between a bearer of power and one who
is not a bearer of power. In its inception it is an act of submission, in its operation it is a
condition of subordination, however much concealed by that indispensable figment of the
legal mind known as the contract of employment. The individual contract of employment

2
Kamala Sankaran UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICBS - AN OVERVIEW Available from: https://www.
file:///H:/labour%20project%204th%20sem/Unfair%20Labour%20Practices%20an%20Overview.pdf [Accessed
16 April 2017 at 19:37].
cannot challenge the unilateral rationality of managerial prerogatives. This gives rise to the
need to allow labour to unite, form collectives, and thus struggle to alleviate its poverty on its
own. Unionisation and collective bargaining lie at the root of most labour relations issues.