Unfair Labour Practices under Industrial Relations Code 2020

Unfair Labour Practices under the Industrial Relations Code 2020

“unfair labour practice” means any of the practices specified in the Second Schedule;

Prohibition of unfair labour practice – No employer or worker or a Trade Union, whether registered under this Code, or not, shall commit any unfair labour practice specified in the Second Schedule[Sec 84]

I. On the Part of Employers and Trade Unions of Employers

(1) To interfere with, restrain from, or coerce, workers in the exercise of their right to organise, form, join or assist a Trade Union or to engage in concerted activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, that is to say,-

(a) threatening workers with discharge or dismissal, if they join a Trade Union;

(b) threatening a lock-out or closure, if a Trade Union is organised;

(c) granting wage increase to workers at crucial periods of Trade Union organisation, with a view to undermining the efforts of the Trade Union organisation.

(2) To dominate, interfere with or contribute support, financial or otherwise, to any Trade Union, that is to say,-

(a) an employer taking an active interest in organising a Trade Union of his workers; and

(b) an employer showing partiality or granting favour to one of several Trade Unions attempting to organise his workers or to its members, where such a Trade Union is not a recognised Trade Union.

(3) To establish employer sponsored Trade Unions of workers.

(4) To encourage or discourage membership in any Trade Union by discriminating against any worker, that is to say,-

(a) discharging or punishing a worker, because he urged other workers to join or organise a Trade Union;

(b) discharging or dismissing a worker for taking part in any strike (not being a strike which is deemed to be an illegal strike under this Code);

(c) changing seniority rating of workers because of Trade Union activities;

(d) refusing to promote workers to higher posts on account of their Trade Union activities;

(e) giving unmerited promotions to certain workers with a view to creating discord amongst other workers, or to undermine the strength of their Trade Union;

(f) discharging office-bearers or active members of the Trade Union on account of their Trade Union activities.

(5) To discharge or dismiss workers,-

(a) by way of victimisation;

(b) not in good faith, but in the colourable exercise of the employer’s rights;

(c) by falsely implicating a worker in a criminal case on false evidence or on concocted evidence;

(d) for patently false reasons;

(e) on untrue or trumped up allegations of absence without leave;

(f) in utter disregard of the principles of natural justice in the conduct of domestic enquiry or with undue haste;

(g) for misconduct of a minor or technical character, without having any regard to the nature of the particular misconduct or the past record or service of the worker, thereby leading to a disproportionate punishment.

(6) To abolish the work of a regular nature being done by workers, and to give such work to contractors as a measure of breaking a strike.

(7) To transfer a worker mala fide from one place to another, under the guise of following management policy.

(8) To insist upon individual workers, who are on a legal strike to sign a good conduct bond, as a precondition to allowing them to resume work.

(9) To show favouritism or partiality to one set of workers regardless of merit.

(10) To employ workers as badli workers, casuals or temporaries and to continue them as such for years, with the object of depriving them of the status and privileges of permanent workers.

(11) To discharge or discriminate against any worker for filing charges or testifying against an employer in any enquiry or proceeding relating to any industrial dispute.

(12) To recruit worker during a strike which is not an illegal strike.

(13) Failure to implement award, settlement or agreement.

(14) To indulge in acts of force or violence.

(15) To refuse to bargain collectively, in good faith with the recognised Trade Unions.

(16) Proposing or continuing a lock-out deemed to be illegal under this Code.

II. On the Part of Workers and Trade Unions of Workers

(1) To advise or actively support or instigate any strike deemed to be illegal under this Code.

(2) To coerce workers in the exercise of their right to self-organisation or to join a Trade Union or refrain from, joining any Trade Union, that is to say-

(a) for a Trade Union or its members to picketing in such a manner that non-striking workers are physically debarred from entering the work places;

(b) to indulge in acts of force or violence or to hold out threats of intimidation in connection with a strike against non-striking workers or against managerial staff.

(3) For a recognised union to refuse to bargain collectively in good faith with the employer.

(4) To indulge in coercive activities against certification of a bargaining representative.

(5) To stage, encourage or instigate such forms of coercive actions as wilful, “go-slow”, squatting on the work premises after working hours or “gherao” of any of the members of the managerial or other staff.

Explanation 1 – For the removal of doubts, it is clarified that “go-slow” shall mean an occasion when more than one worker in an establishment conjointly work more slowly and with less effort than usual to try to persuade the employer of the establishment to agree to higher pay or better service condition or such other demand.

Explanation 2 – For the purposes of Explanation 1, the expression “usual” shall mean,-

(i) where the standard has been specified for a worker for his work either daily, weekly or monthly basis, such work; and

(ii) where no such standard has been specified such rate of work which is the average of work in the previous three months calculated on daily or weekly or monthly basis, as the case may be.

(6) To stage demonstrations at the residence of the employers or the managerial staff members.

(7) To incite or indulge in wilful damage to employer’s property connected with the industry.

(8) To indulge in acts of force or violence or to hold out threats of intimidation against any worker with a view to prevent him from attending work.

---

Compare with-

What is unfair labour practice in Industrial Disputes Act 1947