Industrial Relations Act, 2012 — section 19

19. Collective bargaining agent..—(1) Where there is only one registered trade union in an establishment or a group of establishments, that trade union shall if it has as its members not less than one-third of the total number of workmen employed in such establishment or group of establishments, upon an application made in this behalf be certified by the Registrar in the prescribed manner to be the collective bargaining agent for such establishment or group of establishments.

(2)Where there are more registered trade unions than one in an establishment or a group of establishments, the Registrar shall upon an application made in this behalf by any registered trade union of an establishment or group of establishments, hold within fifteen days from the making of the application, a secret ballot to determine as to which one of such trade unions shall be the collective bargaining agent for the establishment or group: Provided that the Registrar may, in the case of a large establishment having its branches in more than one town, hold the secret ballot within thirty days from the making of the application: Provided further that the Registrar shall not entertain any application under this sub-section in respect of an establishment or group of establishments, consisting of, or including, a seasonal factory within the meaning of Section 4 of the Factories Act, 1934 (XXV of 1934), unless such application is made during the month in which the number of workmen employed in such factory in a year is usually the maximum.

(3)Upon receipt of an application under sub-section (2), the Registrar shall, by notice in writing call upon every registered trade union in the establishment or group of establishments to which the application relates:

(a)to indicate whether it desires to be a contestant in the secret ballot to be held for determining the collective bargaining agent in relation to such establishment or group; and

(b)if it so desires, to submit to him within the time specified in the notice a list of its members showing, in respect of each member, his parentage, age, the section or department and the place in which he is employed, his ticket number and the date of his becoming a member and if union is a federation of trade unions, a list of its affiliated trade unions together with a list of members of each such trade union showing in respect of each such member the said particulars.

(4)Every employer shall

(a)on being so required by the Registrar, submit a list of all workmen employed in the establishment excluding those whose period of employment in the establishment is less than three months and showing, in respect of each workman, his parentage, age, the Section or department and the place in which he is employed, his ticket number and the date of his employment in the establishment; and

(b)provide such facilities for verification of the lists submitted by him and the trade unions as the Registrar may require: Provided that, in computing the period of three months referred to in clause (a) in the case of a workman employed in a seasonal factory within the meaning of Section 4 of the Factories Act, 1934 (XXV of 1934), the period during which he was employed in that factory during the preceding season shall also be taken into account.

(5)The Registrar shall, after verification of the lists submitted by the trade unions, prepare a list of voters in which shall be included the name of every workman whose period of employment as computed in accordance with sub-section (4), is not less than three months and who is a member of any of the contesting trade unions and shall, at least four days prior to the date fixed for the poll, send to each of the contesting trade unions a certified copy of the list of voters so prepared.

(6)Every workman who is a member of any of the contesting trade unions and whose name appears in the list of voters prepared under sub-section (5) shall be entitled to vote at the poll to determine the collective bargaining agent.

(7)Every employer shall provide all such facilities in his establishment as may be required by the Registrar for the conduct of the poll, including actual expenditures of the poll, but shall not interfere with, or in any way influence, the voting.

(8)No person shall canvass for vote within a radius of fifty metres of the polling station.

(9)For the purpose of holding secret ballot to determine the collective bargaining agent, the Registrar shall

(a)fix the date for the poll and intimate the same to each of the contesting trade unions and also to every employer;

(b)on the date fixed for the poll so placed in the polling station set up for the purpose the ballot boxes which shall be sealed in the presence of the representatives of the contesting trade unions as to receive the ballot papers;

(c)conduct the poll at the polling station at which the representatives of the contesting trade unions shall have the right to be present;

(d)after the conclusion of the poll and in the presence of such of the representatives of the contesting trade unions as may be present, open the ballot boxes and count the votes; and

(e)after the conclusion of the count, certify the trade union which has received the highest number of votes to be the collective bargaining agent: Provided that no trade union shall be certified to be the collective bargaining agent for an establishment or group of establishments unless the number of votes received by it is not less than one-third of the total number of votes of workmen mentioned in the voters’ list employed in such establishment or group of establishments: Provided further that, if no trade union secures such number of votes in the first poll, a second poll shall be held between the trade unions which secure the two highest numbers of votes in the first poll and the trade union which secures a majority of the votes cast at the second poll shall be certified in the prescribed manner to be the collective bargaining agent: Provided also that, if the number of votes secured by two or more trade unions securing the highest number of votes is equal, further poll shall be held between them until one of them secures a majority of the votes cast at such further poll.

(10)If no trade union indicates under clause (a) of sub-section (3) that it desires to be a contestant in the secret ballot, the Registrar shall certify the trade union which has made the application under sub-section (2) to be the collective bargaining agent for a period of two years.

(11)Where a registered trade union has been certified under clause (e) of sub-section (9) and sub-section (10) to be the collective bargaining agent for an establishment or group of establishments, no application for the determination of the collective bargaining agent for such establishment or group shall be entertained within a period of two years from the date of such certification except where the registration of such a registered trade union is cancelled before the expiration of the period: Provided that for the trade unions having membership of more than five thousand and presence in more than one province, the period of two years will be enhanced to three years.

(12)The Registrar may authorize in writing an officer to perform all or any of his functions under this section.

(13)After an application under sub-section (2) is made to the Registrar, no employer shall transfer, remove, retrench or terminate any worker who is officer of any contestant trade union save with the permission of the Registrar.