The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is preparing to hold the referendum of trade unions on April 28, after a gap of seven years.
The final list of trade unions in the fray will be published on April 20. The votes will be counted at the office of the Regional Joint Labour Commissioner in Ernakulam on April 30.
This will be the second referendum to be conducted in the power utility after it became a company in 2013. The exercise, which decides the eligibility of trade unions, was last held in October 2015. The outbreak of the COVID-19 poandemic had delayed the subsequent referendum.
In 2015, CITU-backed KSEB Workers' Association (KSEBWA) won 47.51% votes, the INTUC faction United Democratic Electricity Employees’ Front (UDEEF) 24.82%, and the Kerala Electricity Workers Federation (KEWF) supported by the AITUC, 16.5% to win recognition.
On April 28, around 27,000 employees of the KSEB belonging to the workmen category will be eligible to vote in the referendum. Pollings booths will be set up in 71 Electrical Divisions Offices and five other offices of the KSEB. Ballot papers will be used for the exercise.
Recognition is granted to registered trade unions by conducting the referendum based on the provisions of the Kerala Recognition of Trade Unions Act, 2010. Employees belonging to the workmen category are eligible to vote.
Trade unions winning 15% votes are included in the Constituent of Joint Bargaining Council. Unions cornering 40% votes or more are eligible to be principal bargaining agents and those claiming above 51% votes become the sole bargaining agent.
