Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XVII. - Trade unions

Collection:: Economics Books

396 CHAPTER XVII. some were under the impression that registration made recognition obligatory. We recognise that there are questions of principle with regard to political funds which, if they arise, may modify the position in the future. Recognition of Government Employees’ Unions. The position of unions of Government employees requires separate consideration. Prior to the passing of the Trade Unions Act, the recognition rules, to which we have referred, stipulated that recognised anions should apply for registration as soon as legislation made it possible to do so. But when the Act was passed, the Government of India and the majority of local Governments suggested to recognised unions that they should not apply for registration. One local Government went much further and forbadeall its servants from becoming, or continuing to be, members of any union which had applied for or secured registration. We are not aware of the precise considerations which led to the latter order, but the attitude of Governments generally arose from the difficulty of reconciling the privileges which employees secured as members of registered unions with their obligations under the Government Servants’ Conduct Rules. These rules were framed primarily to regulate the conduct of Government officials outside the ranks of labour, with whom we are not concerned ; the Trade Unions Act had mainly in view persons within those ranks, and the recognition rules apply to both classes. Perhaps it is not possible to apply common rules to two such different classes, but in any case, as far as industrial employees are concerned, we recommend that Government should take the lead both in making recognition of anions easy and in encouraging them to secure registration. Collection of Subscriptions by Employers. Some employers, including at least one important State rail- way, have collected subscriptions for trade unions. This has usually been done by deducting the union subscription from the workers’ pay and handing the accumulated amounts overto the union officials month by month. The result has been to give the unions concerned an income far exceeding that which they would have obtained in the ordinary way. In view of the acute difficulties which most unions experience in raising funds and the benefits that could be secured by many if their finances were more flourishing, we have considered the possibility of recommending to employers a general adoption of this practice. On a detailed examination of the question, however, we con- sider that the disadvantages distinctly outweigh the advantages. Quite apart from the fact that the practice makes a trade union subscription a first charge upon a man’s wages and may lead, with illiterate and ignorant workers, to the commencement or continuance of deductions without their full consent, the procedure is bound to undermine the independence of the union. No employer can surrender his right to discontinue the practice at any time. Its continuance, therefore, is conditional upon the union taking no steps which would lead an employer to reverse his policy, and once the practice had been established of collecting subscrivtions

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