WORKMEN Vs. WILLIAMSON MAGOR AND COMPANY LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two connected appeals by special leave are on behalf of Workmen of M/s. Williamson Magor and Co. Ltd. (renamed as M/s. Magneill and Magor Ltd.) represented by Williamson Magor and Company Employees' Union (hereinafter called 'the union') and are directed against the award of the 7th Industrial Tribunal, West Bengal.

(2.) The material facts may be stated thus: According to the union, all the employees of the aforesaid company, the respondent before us (who, will hereinafter be called 'the management') are the members of the union. Disputes had arisen between the workmen and the management but they ended in a number of agreements as a result whereof the employees derived some benefits. Subsequently the management appointed one Mr. P. K. Kaul as a staff officer, who, according to the union, started to create a cleavage between the workmen, and with that end in view, at his instance, the management started giving indiscriminate and arbitrary promotions and/or upgradations to some of. the employees who were its favourites, disregarding the rightful claims of a number of other employees so much so that even junior members were given promotions superseding the rightful claims of the senior employees. The union took up the cause of the workmen with the management. According to the union, there is no norm and/or standard guiding promotion and/or upgradation of the employees. According to the union, the action of the management is arbitrary, mala fide and intended to victimize the employees who are loyal to the union. At the material time there were two grades of employees namely; Special Grade, with a higher scale of pay and General Grade.

(3.) This is an admitted position that the management do not have any norm to determine how many clerks should be in each of the said grades or in each of the scales of pay; nor is there any fixed quota in the Special Grade to be filled up by promotion from the General Grade; nor is there any rule determining the number of vacancies to be filled up by promotion or upgradation. According to the union, the normal rule should be promotion / upgradation by seniority. As this was not done, unrest cropped up. On the management having upgraded / promoted two junior clerks, namely; Anil Chandra Ghosh and Parameshwar Banerjee from General Grade to Special Grade on 1-3-1972, superseding the claims of senior clerks, without assigning any reason, the union protested. Far from rectifying the unjust action, the management again promoted / upgraded another person, Shri Saroj Mukherjee to Special Grade on 1-7-1972, superseding the claims of many others who were senior to him. According to the union, the management arbitrarily promoted / upgraded the aforesaid three persons and unjustly denied promotion / upgradation to twelve senior clerks. This was, according to the union, victimization and unfair labour practice. According to the union, the aforesaid three favoured clerks and the twelve superseded clerks were doing exactly similar work. The three promoted / upgraded persons after their promotion / upgradation used to do the same work as before, occupying the same chairs and working on the same tables as they had done before the date of upgradation/ promotion. According to the union, there were no jobs related to grades or scales of pay, and the promotion / upgradation has no impact except mere increase of pay consequent upon the higher scale of pay given to each person promoted. As a dispute arose between the management and the union, the Government of West Bengal referred the following issue to the 7th Industrial Tribunal, West Bengal for adjudication: