The Scheme of the Act
The Act is divided into following five Chapters and thirty three Sections
Chapter I : Preliminary ( Sections 1-2)
Chapter II : Registration of Trade Union ( Sections 3-14)
Chapter III : Rights and Liabilities of Registered Trade Unions (Section 15- 28)
Chapter IV : Regulations (Sections 29-30)
Chapter V : Penalties and Procedure ( Sections 31-33)
Section 1. Short title, extent and commencement
(1) This Act may be called the 3[* * *] Trade Union Act, 1926.
4[(2) It extends to the whole of India 5[* * *].
(3) It shall come into force on such 6[date] as the Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
Section 2. Definitions
In this Act 7[“the appropriate government” means, in relation to trade unions whose objects are not confined to one State, the Central Government, and in relation to other trade unions, the State Government, and], unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) “executive” means the body, by whatever name called, to which the management of the affairs of a trade union is entrusted;
(b) 8 “[office-bearer]” in the case of a trade union, includes any member of the executive thereof, but does not include an auditor;
(c) “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this Act;
(d) “registered office” means that office of a trade union which is registered under this Act as the head office thereof;
(e) “registered trade union” means a trade union registered under this Act;
9[(f) “Registrar” means-
(i) a Registrar of Trade Unions appointed by the appropriate government under section 3, and includes any Additional or Deputy Registrar of Trade Unions, and
(ii) in relation to any trade union, the Registrar appointed for the state in which the head or registered office, as the case may be, of the trade union is situated;]
(g) “trade dispute” means any dispute between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen, or between employers and employers which is connected with the employment or non-employment, or the terms of employment or the conditions of labor, of any person, and “workmen” means all persons employed in trade or industry whether or not in the employment of the employer with whom the trade dispute arises; and
(h) “trade union” means any combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or more trade unions:
PROVIDED that this Act shall not affect-
(i) any agreement between partners as to their own business;
(ii) any agreement between an employer and those employed by him as to such employment; or
(iii) any agreement in consideration of the sale of the goodwill of a business or of instruction in any profession, trade or handicraft.
Section 3. Appointment of Registrars
10[(1)] 11[The appropriate government] shall appoint a person to be the Registrar of Trade Unions for 12[each State].
13[(2) The appropriate government may appoint as many Additional and Deputy Registrars of Trade Unions as it thinks fit for the purpose of exercising and discharging, under the superintendence and direction of the Registrar, such powers and functions of the Registrar under this Act as it may, by order, specify and define the local limits within which any such Additional or Deputy Registrar shall exercise and discharge the powers and functions so specified.
(3) Subject to the provisions of any order under sub-section (2), where an Additional or Deputy Registrar exercises and discharges the powers and functions of a Registrar in an area within which the registered office of a trade union is situated, the Additional or Deputy Registrar shall be deemed to be the Registrar in relation to the trade union for the purposes of this Act.]
Section 4. Mode of registration
10[(1) Any seven or more members of a trade union may, by subscribing their names to the rules of the trade union and by otherwise complying with the provisions of this Act with respect to registration, apply for registration of the trade union under this Act.
13[(2) Where an application has been made under sub-section (1) for the registration of a trade union, such application shall not be deemed to have become invalid merely by reason of the fact that, at any time after the date of the application, but before the registration of the trade union, some of the applicants, but not exceeding half of the total number of persons who made the application, have ceased to be members of the trade union or have given notice in writing to the Registrar dissociating themselves from the application.]
Section 5. Application for registration
(1) Every application for registration of a trade union shall be made to the Registrar and shall be accompanied by a copy of the rules of the trade union and a statement of the following particulars, namely:-
(a) the names, occupations and addresses of the members making application;
(b) the name of the trade union and the address of its head office; and
(c) the titles, names, ages, addresses and occupations of the 8[office-bearers] of the trade union.
(2) Where a trade union has been in existence for more than one year before the making of an application for its registration, there shall be delivered to the Registrar, together with the application, a general statement of the assets and liabilities of the trade union prepared in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed.
