ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I — TRADE UNIONS
Registration
of trade combinations as Trade Unions
1
Meaning of “trade unions” in this Act.
2
Unregistered trade prohibited from functioning.
3
Application for registration of trade union.
4
Matters to be provided for in registration rules.
5
Procedure on receipt of application for registration.
6
Restriction as regards names of trade unions
7
Cancellation of registration.
8
Proceedings on appeal against refusal or cancellation of registration.
9
Compulsory dissolution of trade union in certain circumstances.
10
Voluntary dissolution of trade union.
General
provisions affecting trade unions
11
Members of armed forces, police, etc. prohibited from forming or joining trade
union.
12
Membership of trade union not to be restricted on discriminatory grounds.
13
Person convicted of certain offences disqualified from holding office in a
trade union.
14
Restriction on the number of trade unions of which a person may be an official.
15
Trade union dues not to be applied for political purposes.
16
Trade union funds not to be used for certain proceedings
17
.deduction from wages of union members
18
Payment of trade union dues to the Central Labour Organisation.
19
Injunction to restrain misapplication of funds of trade union.
20
Membership of persons under twenty-one years of age.
21
Registered office of trade union.
22
Copies of rules to be sold on demand.
Benefits
of registration
23
Trade unions not unlawful as such.
24
Prohibitions of act in tort against trade unions.
25
Recognition of registered trade union obligatory.
26
Right of member to nominate recipient of sums of payable on de
Change
of name, amalgamation, and alteration of rules of trade unions
27
Change of name of trade union.
28
Amalgamation of trade union.
29
Alteration of trade union.
PART II — FEDERATIONS OF TRADE UNIONS
30
Formation of federation of trade unions.
31
Admission of further trade unions to membership of registered federation.
32
Application of certain provisions of Part 1 to federations of trade unions at a
time.
33
No person to hold office in more than one federation of trades unions at the
same time.
PART III — CENTRAL LABOUR ORGANISATION
34
Formation of Central Labour Organisation.
35
Powers of Central Labour Organisation and application of certain provisions of
Part 1.
36
Admission of further bodies to membership of Central Labour Organisation.
PART IV — ACCOUNTS AND RETURNS OF REGISTERD BODIES
37
Annual returns.
38
Duty of treasurer and other officials to render accounts.
39
Copies of audited accounts to be sent to the registrar.
40
Power of registrar to call for account at any time.
41
Investigation of unsatisfactory accounts by registrar.
42
Power of registrar to institute proceedings on behalf of registered body in
certain circumstances.
PART V — MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
PROVISIONS
43
Peaceful picketing.
44
Certain acts not actionable in tort if in contemplation or furtherance of trade
dispute.
45
Companies and Allied Matters Act not to apply to bodies registerable
under this Act.
46
The Registrar of Trade Unions.
47
Certain matters to be notified in Gazette.
48
Penalty for issuing false copies of rules of registered body.
49
Penalty for including false information in any document sent to Registrar.
50
General penalty for offences against this Act.
51
Jurisdiction.
52
validity of act not to be enquired into
53
Regulations.
54
Interpretation.
55
Repeals and transitional provisions.
56
Short title.
FIRST SCHEDULE
MATTERS TO BE PROVIDED
FOR IN RULES OF TRADE UNIONS
SECOND SCHEDULE
REPEALS
THIRD SCHEDULE
LIST OF REGISTERED AND
RECOGNISED TRADE UNIONS
1973 No. 31.
An Act to make Provisions with respect to the formation,
registration and organization of trade unions, federations of trade unions and
the Central Labour Organization.
L.N. 62 of 1973
Commencement (
PART I — TRADE UNIONS
Registration
of trade combinations as Trade Unions
1. Meaning of “trade
union” in this Act.
(1) In this Act-
“trade unions” means any combination of workers or employers,
whether temporary or permanent, the purpose of which is to regulate the terms
and combination in question would or would not, apart from this Act, be an
unlawful combination by reason of any of its purposes begin in restraint of
trade, and whether its purposes do or do not include the provision of benefit
for its members.
(2) The fact that a combination of workers or employers has
purposes or powers other than the purpose of regulating the terms and
conditions of employment of workers shall not prevent it from being registered
under this Act; and accordingly, subject to the provisions of this Act as to
the application of funds for political purposes, a trade union may apply its
funds for any lawful purpose for the time being authorised
by its rules. Including in particular, if so authorised,
that of providing benefits for its members.
(3) A trade union within the meaning of this Act shall not be
treated as having been formed by reason only of-
(a) any agreement between an
employer and a person employed by him as to the terms and constitutions of that
employment; or
(b) any agreement for the
instruction of any person in a profession, trade or handicraft, or
(c) any agreement between partners
as to their own business or any trading agreement between employers; or
(d) any agreement imposing
restrictions in connection with the sale of the goodwill of a business.
2. Unregistered trade
union prohibited from functioning.
(1) A trade union shall not perform any act in furtherance of the
purposes for which it has been formed unless it has been registered under this
Act:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent a trade
union from taking any steps (including the collection of subscriptions or dues)
which may be necessary for the purpose of getting the union registered.
(2) Where a trade union registered under this Act ceases to be so
registered, it shall not thereafter perform any act in furtherance of its
purpose:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall prevent a
trade union from taking any steps which may be necessary for the purpose of
dissolving the union.
(3) If any act which is prohibited by subsection (1) or (2) of
this section, is performed by a trade union, then-
(a) the union and every
official thereof; and
(b) any member thereof who,
not being an official thereof, took any active part in the performance of that
act, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
3. Application for
registration of trade union
(1) An application for the registration of a trade union shall be
made to the Registrar in the prescribed from and shall be signed-
(a) in the case of a trade
union of workers, by at least fifty members of the union; and
(b) in the case of a trade
union of employers, by at least two members of the union. 1978 No. 22.,
(2) No combination of workers or employers shall be registered as
a trade union save with the approval of the Minister on his being satisfied
that it is expedient to register the union either by regrouping existing trade
unions, registering a new trade union or otherwise howsoever ever, but no trade
union shall be registered to represent workers or employers in a place where
already exists a trade union.
(3) No staff recognised as a projection
of management within the management structure of any organisation
shall be a member of or hold office in a trade union (whether or not the member
of that trade union are workers of a rank junior, equal or higher than his own)
if such membership or of the holding of such office in the trade union will
lead to a conflict of his loyalties to either the union or to the management. 1979 No. 86.,
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, a person
may be recognised as a projection of management
within a management structure if his status, authority, powers duties and
accountability which are reflected in his conditions of service are such as
normally inhere in a person exercising
executive authority (whether or not delegated) within the organisation
concerned.
(5) Every application
must pursuant to subsection (1) above shall state the name under which it is
proposed that the trade union to which it relates shall be registered and the
address of the office
which, if the union is registered, is to be the registered office. 1978 No. 22.
(6) Every such application shall be accompanied by two copies of the
union, and by a list showing-
(a) the name, address, age
and occupation of each of the persons by whom the application is signed; and
(b) the official title, name,
address., age, and occupation of each official of the union;
4. Matters to be provided
for in registered rules.
(1) Every trade union must have registered rules, which must
contain provisions with respect to the various matters mentioned in the First
Schedule of this Act.
(2) Accordingly, the Registrar-
(a) shall not register a trade
union unless it has rules which contain such provisions as aforesaid; and
(b) if he registered a trade
union, shall at the time register its rules.
5. Procedure on receipt of
application for registration.
(1) Where an application for the
registration of a trade union is received by the Registrar, the following
provisions of this section shall apply:
Provided that if the application appears to the Registrar to be
defective in any respect, he shall notify the applicant accordingly and shall
take no further action in relation thereto until the application has been
amended to his satisfaction or a fresh application is made in place thereof.
(2) The Registrar shall cause a notice of the application to be
published in the Federal Gazette, starting the objection to the registration of
the trade union in question may be submitted to him in writing during the
period of three months beginning with the date of the Gazette in which the
notice is published.
(3) Within three months after the end of the said period of three
months the Registrar shall consider any objections submitted to him during that
period and, if satisfied-
(a) that no proper objection
has been raised;
(b) that none of the purposes
of the trade unions is unlawful; and
(c) that the requirements of
this Act and of the Regulations with respect to the registration of trade
unions have been complied with,
shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section,
and to section 6 of this Act, register the trade union and its rules.
(4) The Registrar shall not register the trade union it appears to
him that any existing trade union is sufficiently representative of the
interests of the class of persons whose interest the union is intended to
represent.
(5) If the Registrar refuses to register the union-
(a) he shall forthwith end
to the applicants a notice in the prescribed form to that effect, stating the grounds of refusal and specifying the
date from which the time for appealing against the refusal is to run, and shall
publish a notice to the like effect in the Federal Gazette; and 1999 No.1
(b) any official or member of
the union may, within the period of thirty days beginning with the date so
specified, appeal to the appropriate court against the refusal.
(6) The Registrar or registering a trade union shall issue a
certificate of registration which, unless it is proved that the registration of
the union has been cancelled, shall (except in any proceedings for the
cancellation of the registration of the union on the ground that its
registration was obtained by fraud or as the result of a mistake) be conclusive
evidence that the requirements of this Act and Regulations with respect to the
registration of trade union have been complied with, and that the trade union
is authorised to be registered and is a trade union
for the purposes of this Act. 1999 No.1
(7) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this
Act, the Registrar, shall on the coming into effect of this section of this
Act, register the trade unions specified in Part A and Part C of the Third
Schedule to this Act; and on such registration the said trade unions shall have
all the powers and duties of a trade union registered under this Act.
6. Registrations as
regards names of trade unions.
(1) A trade unions shall not be registered under a name identical
with that of any existing trade union or so nearly resembling the name of any
existing trade union as to be likely to deceive the members or the public.
(2) A trade union shall not be registered under a name containing
any words which, in the opinion of the Registrar, are deceptive or
objectionable in that they contain a reference (direct or indirect) to any
personage, practice or institution, or are otherwise unsuitable as name for a
trade union.
(3) If the Registrar refuses to register a trade union on the
ground that the name under which it desires to be registered is, by virtue of
subsection (2) of this section, not one under which it should be registered,
any official or member of the union may require the matter to be referred to
the Minister; and the decision of the Minister on such a reference shall be
final.
((4) Where on a reference under subsection (3) of this section,
the Minister decides that a particular trade union may be registered under a
certain name, the union may be registered under that name notwithstanding
subsection (2) of this section.
(5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall, with the
necessary modifications, apply in relation to -
(a) any proposed alteration
of the name of the trade union; and
(b) any proposal to form a
new trade union by the amalgamation of two or more existing trade unions,
as they apply in relation to the original registration of a
trade union.
7. Cancellation of
registration 1978 No. 22.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 10(2)
of this Act, the Registrar shall cancel the registration of a trade union if it
is proved to his satisfaction-
(a) that the registration of the
union was obtained by fraud or as the result of a mistake; or
(b) that any of the purposes
of the union is unlawful; or
(c) that after receipt of a
warning in writing from the Registrar, the union has deliberately contravened
or continued to contravene any provision of this Act or the Regulations; or
(d) the principal purpose for
which the union is in practice being carried on is a purpose other than that of
regulating the terms and conditions of employment of workers; or
(e) the union thought still
in existence, has ceased to function; or
(f) the union has ceased to
exist.
(2) Where the Registrar proposes to cancel the registration of a
trade union under subsection (1) of this section, he shall send to the trade union
at its registered office a notice in the prescribed form-
(a)
stating
that he proposes to cancel the registration of the union, and specifying
briefly the ground or rounds on which he proposes to do so;
(b) specifying a date not
less than two months after the date of the notice and stating that unless
before that date he is satisfied that the registration ought not to be
cancelled, he will proceed to cancel the registration on the expiration of the
period of thirty days beginning with that date unless an appeal against the
proposed cancellation is brought Within that period.
(3) Where -
(a) the registrar has sent a
notice under subsection (2) of this section to a trade union; and
(b) the trade union is still
in existence on the date specified in the notice; and
(c) the Registrar has not
withdrawn the notice before that date,
1999 No.1
any official or member of
the trade union may, within the period of thirty days beginning with that date
appeal to the appropriate court against the proposed cancellation.
(4) The Registrar shall not cancel the registration of a trade
union under this section before the expiration of the period of thirty days
beginning with the date specified in the notice under subsection (2) of this
section; and if an appeal against the proposed cancellation is brought during
that period, he shall bot cancel the registration
unless the appeal is abandoned or the proposed cancellation is confirmed on the
final determination of the appeal.
(5) A trade union whose registration is cancelled under this
section shall, as from the date of the cancellation, cease to enjoy the
privileges conferred by this Act on trade unions; but any liability incurred by
the union before that date shall not be affected by the cancellation and may be
enforced against the union on or after that date as if the cancellation has not
taken place.
(6) On cancelling the registration of a
trade union under this section, the Registrar shall sent to the address at
which, immediately before the cancellation, the registered office of the union
was situated, a notice in the prescribed form stating the date on which the
registration was cancelled and the grounds for the cancellation, and shall also
cause a notice to the like effect to be published in the Federal Gazette; and
the original certificate of registration of the union shall be delivered to the
Registrar not more than thirty days after the date of the cancellation.
(7) If a certificate which is required by subsection-(6) of this
to be delivered to the Registrar is not
delivered to the Registrar within the time of prescribed by that
subsection, every person who on the date of the cancellation was an official or
member of the union shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
(8) The foregoing provisions of this section shall, with the
necessary modifications, apply in relation to the registration of federations
of trade unions and the Central Labour Organisation
as they apply in relation to trade unions.
1999 No.1
(9) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this
section, the Minister may due to overriding public interest, revoke the
certificate of registration of any trade union specified in Part A of the Third
Schedule to this Act.
8. Proceedings on appeal
against refusal or cancellation of registration.
(1) On an appeal under section 5(5) or 7(3) of this Act the appropriate
court in question may make such order as it thinks proper; and without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, in any proceedings on
such an appeal-
(a) the court shall have
all the powers vested by this Act in the Registrar, and may any order which
might or ought to have been made by the Registrar; and
(b) the costs of and incident
thereto, including the costs of and incident to any proceedings before the
Registrar, shall be in the discretion of the court.
9. Compulsory dissolution
of trade union in certain circumstances
(1) Where-
(a) an application for the registration of a trade union is
finally refused; or
(b) <span style='font-size:10.0pt;font