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What all are the rights and liabilities of Registered Trade Unions?
Posts: 3,285
Threads: 501
Joined: Sep 2010
(A) A registered union has a right to maintain general funds. The general funds of a registered trade union cannot be spent on objects other than those prescribed in Section 15 of the Act. These objects are:
(i) Payment of salaries, allowances and expenses to its office bearers;
(ii) Payment of expenses for its administration including audit of account;
(iii) prosecuting or defending a legal action to which the union or any of its members is a party when such prosecution or defence is undertaken for the purpose of securing or protecting any rights of the trade union as such or any rights arising out of the relations of any member with his employer or with person whom the member employees;
(iv) the conduct of trade disputes on behalf of the trade union or any member thereof;
(v) the compensation of members for loss arising out of trade disputes;
(vi) allowance to members or their dependents on account of death, old age, sickness, accidents or unemployment of such members;
(vii) the issue of, or the undertaking of liability under policies of assurance on the lives of member; or under policies insuring members against sickness, accident or unemployment;
(viii) the provision of educational, social or religious benefits for members (including the payment of the expenses of funeral or religious ceremonies for deceased members) or for the dependents of members;
(ix) the upkeep of a periodical published mainly for the purpose of discussing questions affecting employers or workmen as such;
(x) the payment in furtherance of any of the objects on which the general funds of the trade union may be spent, of contributions to any cause intended to benefit workmen in general, provided that the expenditure in respect of such contributions in any financial year shall not at any time during that year be in excess of one-fourth of the combined total of the gross income which has up to that time accrued to the general funds of the trade union during that year and of the balance at the credit of those funds at the commencement of that year ; and
(xi) subject to any conditions contained in the notification, any other object notified by the appropriate government in the Official Gazette.
(B)A registered trade union may constitute a separate fund for political purposes from contributions separately levied for or made to that fund.
The various purposes for which a political fund may be constituted are as follows:
(a) the payment uf-any expenses incurred, either directly or indirectly, by a candidate or prospective candidate for election as a member of any legislative body constituted under the constitution or of any local authority, before, during, or alter the election in connection with his candidature or election; or
(b) the holding of any meeting or the distribution of any literature or documents in support of any such candidate or prospective candidate; or
© the maintenance of any person who is a member of any legislative body constituted under the constitution or for any local authority; or
(d) the registration of electors or the selection of a candidate for any legislative body constituted under the constitution or for any local authority; or
(e) the holding of political meetings of any kind, or the distribution of political literature or political documents of any kind.
The contribution to the political fund of a trade union is merely voluntary and not compulsory. Thus no member who does not contribute to the fund can be placed under any disability or disadvantage except in respect of the management and control of encash funds. Further a non-contributory cannot be excluded from the benefits of the trade union. Moreover, no condition can be imposed for the admission to membership of the union.
