Recognition Of Employee Unions
Ngeow Yeok Meng

The Industrial Relations Act 1967 makes union recognition a necessary prerequisite to collective bargaining. In other words, before an employee union can start to negotiate with an employer on behalf of the workers in a company, the union must get recognition from the employer.

Four conditions need to be met by an employee union before it obtains recognition from the employer:

However, even when all four conditions are met, there is no guarantee that the union will be recognized by the employer. This is because the IRA does not accord to unions a right to recognition nor impose on employers a duty to recognize.

Once a union represents a group of workers in a company, it can apply for recognition by making a written request to the employer. The procedure as laid down in the Act states that employer must reply to this request within 21 days. The employer must either grant recognition to the union or reject the request stating reasons for not according recognition. The employer may alternatively contact the Department of Industrial Relations to clarify whether the union is the appropriate one to represent his workers.

Should the employer refuse recognition or fail to reply to the request, the union may file a complaint to the Director-General of Industrial Relations who is empowered to carry out a membership check. If this check reveals more than 50% of the eligible workers in the company belong to the union, the Director-General will advise the company to recognize the union. If the union fails to get recognition, it must wait a further six months before making another request and any other attempt to get recognition. If despite the Director-General's effort to resolve the disputes, he is required to notify the Minister of Human Resources. The decision of the Minister is final and shall not be questioned in any court.

During the pending of claim for recognition, the employee cannot declare a lockout or discharge an employee, while employees are not allowed to strike over recognition.
Once recognition has been accorded wither by the company or by the decision of the Minister, the recognition stands for so long as the unions exists.