THE TRADE UNIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2001

THE TRADE UNIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2001

ACT NO. 31 OF 2001

[3rd September, 2001.]

An Act further to amend the Trade Unions Act, 1926.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-second Year of the Republic

of India as follows:-

1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the Trade

Unions (Amendment) Act, 2001.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government

may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

2. Amendment of section 4.-In section 4 of the Trade Unions Act, 1926

(16 of 1926) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in

sub-section (1), the following provisos shall be inserted at the end,

namely:-

''Provided that no Trade Union of workmen shall be registered unless

at least ten per cent or one hundred of the workmen, whichever is

less, engaged or employed in the establishment or industry with which

it is connected are the members of such Trade Union on the date of

making of application for registration:

Provided further that no Trade Union of workmen shall be registered

unless it has on the date of making application not less than seven

persons as its members, who are workmen engaged or employed in the

establishment or industry with which it is connected .'’

3. Amendment of section 5.-In section 5 of the principal Act, in

sub-section (1), after clause (a), the following clause shall be

inserted, namely:-

''(aa) in the case of a Trade Union of workmen, the names, occupations

and addresses of the place of work of the members of the Trade Union

making the application;''.

4. Amendment of section 6.-In section 6 of the principal Act,-

(a) for clause (ee), the following clause shall be substituted,

namely:-

''(ee) the payment of a minimum subscription by members of the Trade

Union which shall not be less than-

(i) one rupee per annum for rural workers;

(ii) three rupees per annum for workers in other unorganised sectors;

and

(iii) twelve rupees per annum for workers in any other case;'';

(b) in clause (h), for the word ''appointed'', the word ''elected''

shall be substituted;

(c) after clause (h), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

''(hh) the duration of period being not more than three years, for

which the members of the executive and other office-bearers of the

Trade Union shall be elected;''.

5. Amendment of section 9.-After section 9 of the principal Act, the

following section shall be inserted, namely:-

"9A. Minimum requirement about membership of a Trade Union.-A

registered Trade Union of workmen shall at all times continue to have

not less than ten per cent. or one hundred of the workmen, whichever

is less, subject to a minimum of seven, engaged or employed in an

establishment or industry with which it is connected, as its

members.''

6. Amendment of section 10.-In section 10 of the principal Act, after

clause (b), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

"(c) if the Registrar is satisfied that a registered Trade Union of

workmen ceases to have the requisite number of members.''.

7. Amendment of section 11.-In section 11 of the principal Act, in

sub-section (1), after clause (a), the following clause shall be

inserted, namely:-

''(aa) where the head office is situated in an area, falling within

the jurisdiction of a Labour Court or an Industrial Tribunal, to that

Court or Tribunal, as the case may be;''.

8. Substitution of new section for section 22.-For section 22 of the

principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-

'22. Proportion of office-bearers to be connected with the

industry.-(1) Not less than one-half of the total number of the

office-bearers of every registered Trade Union in an unorganised

sector shall be persons actually engaged or employed in an industry

with which the Trade Union is connected:

Provided that the appropriate Government may, by special or general

order, declare that the provisions of this section shall not apply to

any Trade Union or class of Trade Unions specified in the order.

Explanation.-For the purposes of this section, ''unorganised sector''

means any sector which the appropriate Government may, by notification

in the Official Gazette, specify.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (1), all office-bearers

of a registered Trade Union, except not more than one-third of the

total number of the office-bearers or five, whichever is less, shall

be persons actually engaged or employed in the establishment or

industry with which the Trade Union is connected.

Explanation.-For the purposes of this sub-section, an employee who has

retired or has been retrenched shall not be construed as outsider for

the purpose of holding an office in a Trade Union.

(3) No member of the Council of Ministers or a person holding an

office of profit (not being an engagement or employment in an

establishment or industry with which the Trade Union is connected), in

the Union or a State, shall be a member of the executive or other

office-bearer of a registered Trade Union.'.

9. Amendment of section 29.-In section 29 of the principal Act, after

sub-section (2), the following sub-sections shall be inserted,

namely:-

''(3) Every notification made by the Central Government under

sub-section (1) of section 22, and every regulation made by it under

sub-section (1), shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,

before each House of Parliament, while it is in session for a total

period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two

or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session

immediately following the session or the successive sessions

notification or regulation, or both Houses agree that the notification

or regulation should not be made, the notification or regulation shall

thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect,

as the case may be; aforesaid, both Houses agree in making a y

modification in the o, however, that any such modification or

annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything

previously done under that notification or regulation.

(4) Every notification made by the State Government under sub-section

(1) of section 22 and every regulation made by it under sub-section

(1) shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the

State Legislature.''.