Requirements for registration of Union under Industrial Relations Act 2012 in the context of Domestic Workers

There is no special law for registration of trade union available for Domestic Workers in Islamabad. However, the only law for the registration of a trade union in Islamabad is captioned above. Let’s discuss some details regarding the registration of trade union in the context of domestic workers in the lights of IRA 2012. One of the purposes of the Act is to rationalize and consolidate the law relating to the formation of Trade Unions. The Act recognizes that Pakistan has ratified C-87(Freedom of Association) and C-98(Right to Organize Collective Bargaining) of ILO. The Act also recognizes the Right to Freedom of Association as envisaged in Article 17 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. The Relevant Article is reproduced below:- 17. Freedom of association: (1) Every citizen shall have the right to form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, public order or morality . (2) Every citizen, not being in the service of Pakistan, shall have the right to form or be a member of a political party, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan and such law shall provide that where the Federal Government declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such declaration, refer the matter to the Supreme Court whose decision on such reference shall be final. (3) Every political party shall account for the source of its funds in accordance with law. Requirements - a. Trade Union is formed for regulating relations between employer and workmen .(Section 2(xxxi)) - b. Workers or Employers can establish Trade Union . (Section 3) - c. A worker can join any trade union without previous permission. - d. No worker can be member of more than one trade union . If a worker joins a new trade union than the previous membership if any shall stand cancelled. - e. Constitution of Trade Union is Mandatory. - f. Trade Unions can have federations and confederations . - g. Registrar has powers to register trade union . (Section 5) - h. Registrar has powers to lodge complaints against trade unions directly and indirectly both. (Section 5) - i. Registrar can investigate and conduct inquiries against trade unions. - j. Application for registration with the signatures of president and secretary is mandatory. (Section 6) - k. Name of Trade Union is Mandatory. - l. Head Office of Trade Union shall be there with an address. - m. Particulars of Officers of Trade Union shall be provided along with Application. - n. Paid Membership Statement shall be filed along with registration application. - o. Statement of total number of employed workers in trade union is mandatory. - p. Statement of name of Establishment, industry or group to which trade union belongs is mandatory. - q. Statement of name of other trade unions in the establishment is mandatory. - r. Resolution for accepting constitution passed by Members of Trade Union along with signature of chairperson of the meeting is mandatory. - s. Three copies of constitution are filed with the application for registration. - t. Resolution by the members allowing president and secretary to file application is also mandatory. - u. Objects of Trade Union shall be given(Section 8) - v. Purpose of Fund Utilization shall be mentioned. - w. Number of Executive Persons which shall be at least 75% of workmen of union or establishment to which the union belong. - x. Member Benefits Procedure shall be mentioned. - y. All the members of trade union shall be part of industry to which it belongs. - z. Member Fine or forfeiture Procedure shall be mentioned. - aa. Maintenance of list of members shall be mentioned and the procedure of inspection of same. - ab. Procedure to Amend, Rescind and vary the Constitution shall be mentioned . - ac. Safe Custody of Funds, Audit and inspection of account books shall be mentioned. - ad. Elections to be conducted and the term of office bearers which shall not be more than two years shall be mentioned. - ae. Procedure of no confidence on any officer of trade union shall be mentioned. - af. Meetings of General Body and Executive shall be conducted at least once in three months. - ag. Dissolution of Trade Union shall be mentioned in registration documents. Regards, Salman Yousaf Khan Advocate High Court Chairperson The Pleaders Trust