Trade union
Also called: Registered Trade Union
Under Section 2(zl) of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, any combination formed primarily to regulate relations between workers and employers, workers and workers, or employers and employers.
Explained
Section 2(zl) of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 defines Trade Union as any combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workers and employers, or between workers and workers, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or more Trade Unions. The proviso keeps outside Chapter III agreements between partners as to their own business, agreements between an employer and his employees as to employment, and agreements on the sale of goodwill or for instruction in a profession, trade or handicraft. The Code repealed the Trade Unions Act, 1926 under Section 104.
The definition is broad. A combination of employers can be a trade union, and the test is the primary purpose of the combination, not its label. Registration is not part of the definition, but most statutory rights attach only to registered Trade Unions.
Section 6 governs registration. Any seven or more members may apply, and a Trade Union of workers cannot be registered unless at least ten per cent of the workers or one hundred workers, whichever is less, engaged in the establishment or industry are members on the date of application. A registered Trade Union is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal under Section 12. Section 16 gives immunity from civil suits for acts done in contemplation or furtherance of an industrial dispute on the ground only that they induce breach of a contract of employment or interfere with trade, and Section 17 protects members from punishment for criminal conspiracy for agreements furthering the union's lawful objects, unless the agreement is to commit an offence.
Under Section 20, a person who has attained fourteen years and is employed in a non-hazardous industry may be a member. Examiners test the definition, the membership threshold for registration, corporate status, the immunities and the age for membership.
What the law says
Section 2, Industrial Relations Code
(zf) “registered Trade Union” means a Trade Union registered under this Code;
Clause (zl) defines Trade Union
Section 6, Industrial Relations Code
(1) Any seven or more members of a Trade Union may, by subscribing their names to the rules of the Trade Union and by otherwise complying with the provisions of this Code with respect to registration, apply for registration of the Trade Union under this Code.
(2) No Trade Union of workers shall be registered unless at least ten per cent. of the workers or one hundred workers, whichever is less, engaged or employed in the industrial establishment or industry with which it is connected are the members of such Trade Union on the date of making of application for registration.
(3) Where an application has been made under sub-section (1) for registration of a Trade Union, such application shall not be deemed to have become invalid merely by reason of the fact that, at any time after the date of the application but before the registration of the Trade Union, some of the applicants, but not exceeding half of the total number of persons who made the application, have ceased to be members of the Trade Union or have given notice in writing to the Registrar dissociating themselves from the application.
Criteria for registration
Section 12, Industrial Relations Code
Every registered Trade Union shall be a body corporate by the name under which it is registered, and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire and hold both movable and immovable property and to contract, and shall by the said name sue and be sued.
Registered Trade Union is a body corporate
Section 16, Industrial Relations Code
(1) No suit or other legal proceeding shall be maintainable in any civil court against any registered Trade Union or any office-bearer or member thereof in respect of any act done in contemplation or furtherance of an industrial dispute to which a member of the Trade Union is a party on the ground only that such act induces some other person to break a contract of employment or that it is an interference with the trade, business, or employment of some other person or with the right of some other person to dispose of his capital or of his labour as he wills.
(2) A registered Trade Union shall not be liable in any suit or other legal proceeding in any civil court in respect of any tortuous act done in contemplation or furtherance of an industrial dispute by an agent of the Trade Union if it is proved that such person acted without the knowledge of, or contrary to express instructions given by, the executive of the Trade Union.
Immunity from civil suit
Section 20, Industrial Relations Code
Any person who has attained the age of fourteen years and is employed in a nonhazardous industry may be a member of a registered Trade Union subject to any rules of the Trade Union, and may, subject to as aforesaid enjoy all the rights of a member and execute all instruments and given all acquaintances necessary to be executed or given under the rules.
Membership of minors
Section 104, Industrial Relations Code
(a) the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926);
(b) the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 (20 of 1946); and
(c) the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947).
Repeal of the Trade Unions Act, 1926
For the exam
- IRC Section 2(zl): includes combinations of employers and federations of unions.
- Registration: seven members, plus 10% of workers or 100 workers, whichever is less (Section 6).
- A registered Trade Union is a body corporate (Section 12).
- Civil immunity (Section 16) and conspiracy protection (Section 17) for lawful trade union acts.
- Membership from age 14 in a non-hazardous industry (Section 20).
33 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Labour & Industrial Law questions
Related terms
- Industrial disputeA dispute between employers, employers and workers, or workers, connected with employment, non-employment, terms of employment or conditions of labour, including an individual termination dispute (Section 2(q) IRC).
- WorkmanA person employed to do manual, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 now uses the term worker in Section 2(zr).
- StrikeCessation of work by persons employed in an industry acting in combination, or a concerted refusal to work, including concerted casual leave by 50% or more workers on a day. Section 2(zk), IR Code.
- Lock-outThe temporary closing of a place of employment, suspension of work, or an employer's refusal to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him (Section 2(u), Industrial Relations Code, 2020).
- WagesUnder Section 2(y) of the Code on Wages, 2019, all remuneration in money or money's worth payable for employment, including basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance, but excluding listed items.
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.