Judicial Discourse on Trade Unionism in India

The role of judiciary is very significant in providing social justice to the workers by the eminent judges. The strength of a Trade Union depends on the bargaining power but not of its membership. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 seeks to achieve social justice on the basis of collective bargaining. The International Labour Organization has set up international standards for labour matters including dispute settlement. But in practice, collective bargaining in India failed as a method of settlement which has led to large scale of dependence on compulsory adjudication. In other works, preference to adjudication indicates the weakness of collective bargaining. Therefore, it is the duty of the Trade Unions to function as collective bargaining agents to bring about good employer-employee relationship and thus improve the economic and social conditions of workers.