Labor Union Claims Recognition: How Can We Verify and Are We Obligated to Comply?

Dear All, We are a small service-providing company in Mumbai employing about 50 employees. A labor organization affiliated with a political party has sent us a letter requesting recognition as the sole bargaining authority. They claim that our employees have registered with them. How should we verify their claim? Are we obligated to recognize them? Please guide. Thank you.

Do not respond to this letter immediately. Unless your employees themselves clearly give notice in this regard, you need not bother about it. Please check with the jurisdictional labor officer/trade union registrar if your employees have formed a union and if they have affiliated the union with this labor organization that issued the letter.

However, you have every right to refuse to negotiate/discuss with any outsider who is not your employee. Also, try to determine if this is a way to extort money, as some political organizations do from traders and small organizations. If so, stand your ground and refuse any interactions.

Kind regards,
Dayanand L. Guddin

Dear Dayanand, Many thanks for the perfect advice. I feel relieved of great tension. I am sure a few disgruntled employees may have approached the organization. However, they will not come out in the open and would not have formed any union of their own. The labor organization, however, claims that they have formed a unit of their organization in my company.

Legal Backing for Suggestions

Can we be on more sound footing (and for academic purposes) by backing up each suggestion with the relevant legal provisions?

Thank you.

Even if there is a unit of the so-called organization, it requires a specific affiliation. There is no legal sanction to get employees from a specific organization enrolled in some organization and claim the right of bargaining. There is no specific legal citation that could be offered on this. However, you may refer to the relevant sections of the Trade Union Act, specifically on the formation of the union, and some case laws of high courts and supreme courts which are clear about the right of the employer to refuse bargaining with non-recognized bodies and external agencies.

Kind regards,
Dayanand L Guddin

Please read the earlier communication once again. The letter is given by an outside agency, not by the employees.

Union Formation and Registration

If the employees form a union, then that must be registered first with a clear indication of the organization in which they are working. A group or organization of non-employees claiming that your employees are our members does not amount to a union. Then they can claim affiliation with any outfit they want.

Recognition of Outside Bodies

Let me clarify once again based on my experience of the last twenty years, there is no binding on management to give recognition to any outside body unless the employees show clearly that they are members of that outfit. Industrial courts do not give any recognition. They give directions/decisions.

Getting organized/grouped for various reasons is a tendency of any living being. There is no need to make introspection on this.

Kind regards,

Dayanand L. Guddin

Dear Mr. Dayanand, I am facing the same problem regarding the strength, with approximately 70 individuals spread across three shifts in Kolkata. Some laborers, under a contractor, have approached the local MLA and party to form a union for very minor issues, negligence, or temporary reasons.

We provide more than just minimum wages, including ESI, PF, leave, bonuses, and good working conditions such as Aqua guard, central AC, change rooms, epoxy flooring, PPE, etc. All the laborers, who are employed by a larger LTD company compared to ours, receive their salaries through bank transfers and each laborer possesses an ATM card, always receiving their payments on time.

Two to three laborers do not wish to join the union. Moreover, they are well aware that Tata left West Bengal due to similar issues. Initially, they were working for minimum wages, enduring 12-hour shifts under harsh conditions without even basic amenities like drinking water or access to toilets. This deterioration occurred within just three years.

However, the local MLA insists on union formation simply because a few laborers approached them, pressuring others to join their group.

Please advise.

Regards,
Jagranjan