UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES IN INDIA: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATIVE GAPS, HISTORICAL CONTINUITIES, AND TRADE UNION RESISTANCE

AUTHOR – ASHWINI G, STUDENT AT THE TAMILNADU Dr. AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – ASHWINI G, UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES IN INDIA: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATIVE GAPS, HISTORICAL CONTINUITIES, AND TRADE UNION RESISTANCE, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (5) OF 2025, PG. 290-300, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344

ABSTRACT

Industrial Disputes between employers and employees are a common occurrence in today’s Industrial world. Therefore, one of the most desired goals is to maintain positive working relationships between employers and employees.  Collective Bargaining, a method of negotiation between employers and workers, represented by trade unions, to create working conditions that are advantageous to all parties, is particularly helpful in accomplishing the aforementioned. But even though India developed a number of regulations to organize and regulate the industrial sector after gaining independence, none of them addressed unfair labour practices. Through the Trade Unions (Amendment) Act, 1947, the Indian Parliament chose to include two sets of unfair labour practices, one pertaining to employers and the other to labour unions. However, these were not enforceable. Additionally, several unfair labour practices were listed in the Code of Discipline, 1958, which was approved by the central bodies of employers and workers at the sixteenth Indian Labour Conference. When the Maharashtra government adopted the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act in 1971, it was the first to successfully enforce a particular legal statute that forbade ULPs. However, only Maharashtra was subject to the aforementioned law, which constituted state legislation. In its initial report, the National Commission on Labour (1969) suggested that a law be passed that would recruit ULPs and provide them with appropriate penalties. Examining the moral duties of employers, trade unions, and regulatory bodies in maintaining the values of justice, fairness, and dignity in the workplace, it explores the ethical aspects of such behaviors.

Key words: Unfair, Labour, Strikes, Unions, Employers, and Workers