Can Contract Workers Join Unions and What Role Does the Employer Play?

I have the following doubts regarding contract labor:

1. Can contract labor join the employees' union?
2. In our organization, there are 42 contractors. If the workers from all these contractors form a union, to whom should they submit their charter of demands? What is the role of the principal employer?

Kindly clarify the above, please.

Regards,
GIRI

Can Contract Labor Join the Employees' Union?

1. Can the contract labor join the employees' union? - Yes.

Union Formation and Charter of Demands

2. In our organization, there are 42 contractors. If the workers from all these contractors form a union, to whom will they submit their charter of demands? What is the role of the principal employer? - Do you have Certified Standing Orders? If yes, are the contract workers excluded from the provision of the Certified Standing Orders? If yes, then these contract laborers have to prove before the Competent Authority that they are workmen under Section 2(s) of the ID Act. Only then will the Principal Employer come into the picture; otherwise, only the Contractor will be deemed as the Employer to the Contract Workers.

The contractual employees can form their own union and they shall submit their charter of demands to their respective employers. However, since they are working in your organization, it is your duty, in your own interest, to have a dialogue with the contractors about the demands without interfering in their negotiations. You need to monitor the progress as it may affect the smooth functioning as well as the general IR situation.

Regards

While agreeing with the above, it appears your question is whether they can join the employees' union. If so, I feel it is NO. They may form a union and become members of such a union. They need to submit a charter of demands to contractors (their employers) only, but in practice, they are giving a copy of the same to the principal employer also. However, as our colleague said, the principal employer needs to monitor in his own interest.

According to the ILO, every employee has the fundamental right to form, participate in, or become a member of any union in any organization. Every country constitutionally allows the exercise of this fundamental right.

Formation of a Labour Union in Organizations with Multiple Contractors

In an organization where different contractors are performing, a Labour Union can be formed and registered easily. A main body (Panel) can be constituted for infrastructure as follows:
- President from Contractor No.1
- Vice President from Contractor No.2
- General Secretary from Contractor No.3
- Finance Secretary from Contractor No.4
- Secretary of Information from Contractor No.5
and so on.

Every employee, for every employer, can become a member, and the charter of demands is the responsibility of the elected or selected body to present to the employer.

Regards,
Amjad Ali Anjum
HR & Administration Professional

Of course, contract laborers can join the union of regular employees or any such union that has been registered. The union cannot raise demands pertaining to contract laborers before the principal employer. However, unions may adapt tactics to include the name of the principal employer as one of the parties in disputes regarding their demands. Thus, the principal employer should be concerned with all such moves of contract laborers.

Regards,
Shailesh Parikh
Vadodara, Gujarat
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

A contract laborer, by the fact that he is employed in the same industry to which the trade union is connected, can seek membership in the employees' union provided the by-laws or the rules of the union permit the same.

Yes, all the contract laborers engaged through the 42 contractors can form a separate trade union if they so desire. However, they can address their charter of demands, if any, technically to the contractors only. It will be a sticky situation, and the principal employer cannot be a silent spectator, as some of the members have already pointed out. The reasons are very simple ones:
- Certain demands may have pecuniary repercussions, while others may be related to statutory compliance.
- The deterioration in the relationship between the contractors and their labor may have an adverse impact on the functioning of the principal's establishment.
- The State Administration will not allow the principal employer to go scot-free on technical grounds.

Hence, the role of the principal employer is not different from that of a situation created by his regular workmen, and he has to act as expeditiously as possible to remedy the situation—okay?

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards

Points Raised by the Additional Commissioner

The points mentioned by the Additional Commissioner are like 24-carat gold. Regarding the second half of his comment: "It will be a sticky situation, and the principal employer cannot be a silent spectator, as some members have already pointed out. The reasons are very simple ones: (a) certain demands may have pecuniary repercussions while others may be related to statutory compliance, (b) the deterioration in the relationship between the contractors and their labor may have an adverse impact on the functioning of the principal's establishment, and (c) the State Administration will not allow the principal employer to go scot-free on technical grounds."

The catch-22 can be well addressed and catered to in the agreement between the contractor and the company hiring the services of the contractor, including Workers' Compensation.

Suggest consulting your Legal Advisor immediately. Try your best to avoid contract workmen joining the company union by placing necessary clauses in standing orders. Maybe later, for long-term settlements with regular workmen, this can create hassles.

It is not the company's affair to manage the charter of demands of contract workmen. Instead, it is the task of their principal employer.

To Mr. Umakanthan.M,

Dear Sir, can you please enlighten me as to whether a non-workman president of an unregistered trade union can espouse the cause of contract laborers in any proceeding under the ID Act or file a writ petition in the High Court?

Regards,
skhota

Can I infer that by using the word 'espouse' you actually mean to 'represent' the contract workmen in any proceedings under the I.D. Act, 1947, or in a writ before the High Court? Espousal of a dispute under the I.D. Act, for all practical purposes, simply means raising and conducting the dispute on behalf of the workmen before the concerned authorities and thus encompasses a wide range of responsibilities from start to finish. On the contrary, 'representation' to act on behalf of someone under authorization would be for the limited purpose of acting on someone’s behalf.

Section 36 of the I.D. Act, 1947

Please refer to Section 36 of the I.D. Act, 1947, which deals with the representation of (1) workmen, (2) employers, and (3) engagement of legal practitioners in any proceedings under the Act. As per Section 36(1), a workman who is a party to a dispute is entitled to be represented by any office bearer of a registered trade union of which he is a member or any office bearer of a federation of trade unions to which his trade union is affiliated or, in the event of his being no member of any trade union, by the office bearer of any trade union connected with the industry in which the workman is employed or by any other workman employed therein.

However, a Division Bench of the Honorable High Court of Orissa held that the authorities are not barred from permitting a person, not covered by the different clauses of subsection (1), to represent the workman [P. Adinarayana Reddy v. Industrial Tribunal (1991) 2 LLN 747]. Therefore, a non-workman president of an unregistered trade union can represent the contract labor in any proceedings under the I.D. Act, 1947, and in any writ proceeding relating to the dispute of contract labor.