Can Supervisors Form or Join Unions and Influence Strikes Under the Trade Union Act?

Dear Senior,

Please advise, can a supervisor-level employee create a union under the Trade Union Act? Could a supervisor be part of a union and also provoke other junior employees to strike or cause a disturbance within the organization?

Thank you.

Yes, a supervisor-level employee can form a union. Whether to instigate a strike or mobilize is their individual view and behavior; the company cannot curtail it. However, if the company could prove with evidence that they instigated an illegal strike, then management can take legal action against them.

Dear Sir,

If a supervisor receives a gross salary of more than 15000/- and also has the right to approve or reject the leave of junior employees, and if the supervisor does not fall under the workmen definition as per the ID Act based on wages, then the supervisor can participate in the union as the leader of the union, and he will be eligible for DA.

It will depend on how treatment is given to employees in the supervisory cadre and the rest of the workmen, whether together or without unionized staff. If your organization has a system of wage payment that is negotiable as a matter of precedence, and they are also directly or indirectly bargaining or made to take advantage following workers' wage increases, then definitely, yes, they can plot such activities in concert with workmen. Merely calling a supervisor by designation, wage limit, etc., are secondary considerations.

Employee Relations and Union Dynamics

Employee relations are not exactly advancing over the regulatory process. Today, staff unions are bargaining salaries, settling employees' demands, and resolving disputes in large corporate offices. What is happening in banks? Forget the bank, do IAS and IPS have their associations? It is a joint strategy inside, at full power, attempted by every employee other than owners to have the maximum increase in payments. HR must recognize scenes behind and out of the curtain to play the desired role as a game-changer.

Regards,
RDS Yadav