Verification of trade unions to begin next year

After a gap of eight years, the labour ministry is gearing to conduct the verification of all registered trade unions affiliated to the Central Trade Union Organisation (CTUO). The exercise is expected to start October next year.

The move is significant as the verified membership numbers will be taken as a benchmark to ascertain the relative strength of various CTUOs. Based on these, the government allots representations to unions in organisations such as Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Employee State Insurance Scheme and Indian Labour Conference. In EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees, the trade unions’ have 10 representatives, out of a total 43.

The last such exercise was conducted in November 2003 and completed on December 31, 2007. Based on that, the base year was kept as 2002. Since then, the 2002 numbers are looked at to gauge the strength of the unions. Once the latest verification is complete, the base year will be changed to 2011.

The labour ministry, after consulting the CTUOs, has decided to revise the parameters used to grant a trade union the status of CTUO. After the revision, a trade union will need to have at least 800,000 verified members, spread over at least eight states and eight industries, which may include agriculture and rural sectors. Earlier, the parameters mandated 500,000 verified members, spread over at least four states and four industries.

The unions say the process should be conducted more often, so the change in their membership pattern is reflected in their representation. “The government should conduct it more frequently,” said D L Sachdeva, general secretary, All India Trade Union Congress. Tapan Sen of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions agreed.

The verification exercise begins with the labour ministry sending the annual returns of all CTUOs to the state labour ministry for verification. The state’s labour commissioner verifies these by individually visiting factories and taking a sample count. The verified numbers are sent back to the Centre, which grants the status of CTUO on the basis of their membership. According to 2002 data, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh has the highest membership, followed by Indian National Trade Union Congress and Centre of India Trade Unions.

According to the Trade Union Act, 1926, every trade union is mandated to file its annual return with the state labour commissioner. However, the law doesn’t mandate the verification exercise. Prabhat Chaturvedi, former labour secretary who initiated the process, said the exercise was “very sensitive”. “We have expedited the process but it takes a lot of time as a large number of workers have to be verified. Also, since the government provides representation based on these numbers, we have to be extra careful,” Chaturvedi said.