TATA IRON AND STEEL COMPANY LIMITED Vs. WORKMEN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These six appeals on certificate granted by the Patna High Court in two separate judgments disposing of six civil writ petitions raise common questions of fact an law and will, therefore, be disposed of by a common judgment.

(2.) The appellant owns six collieries, but we are concerned in the present controversy only with two collieries, namely, Sijua and Bhelatand. Du to shortage of power, the appellant decided to stagger the weekly rest days in all the collieries. By a notice dated September 10, 1963 a new schedule of rest days was introduced in accordance with which Sijua colliery was to have every Wednesday as a rest day and Bhelatand colliery every Friday as a rest day. With respect to Bhelatand colliery Friday was later changed to Thursday. It is common ground that previously Sunday was the weekly rest day in all the six collieries. The change in the weekly days of rest was to take effect from September 15, 1963 which was a Sunday. The workers of the collieries did not turn up for work on Sunday September 15, as a result whereof, negotiations were held between the appellant and some of the workmen represented by the Colliery Mazdoor Sangh and it was agreed that the new schedule would taken effect from September 22, 1963. It may here be pointed out that the respondents in these appeals, who were also respondents in the High Court in the six writ petitions, are members of another union called the Congress Mazdoor Sangh which was not a party to that agreement. The said agreement was not given full effect, with the result that on September 22, 1963, again, the workers did not turn up for work in the collieries. The appellant thereupon filed two applications under sub-para (1) of para 8 of the Coal Mines Bonus Scheme (hereinafter referred to as the Scheme) before the Regional Labour Commissioner for a declaration that there was an illegal strike on September 22, 1963. Even after September 22, 1963, the controversy between the appellant and the workmen continued and on Wednesday, September 25, 1963 the workmen went to Sijua Colliery for work. The appellant refused to give them any work on the plea that Wednesday was a weekly day of rest in that colliery. Similarly, when the workmen went on Thursday. September 26, 1963 to Bhelatand Colliery they were told that Thursday was a weekly rest day and on this ground they were not given and work. Shri B. N. Sharma, President of the Congress Mazdoor Sangh, Bihar, Jorapokhar, Dhanbad, on behalf of the workmen of Sijua and Bhelatand Collieries, filed two applications before the Regional Labour Commissioner (C), Dhanbad, stating that there was illegal lock-out of the workers of Sijua Collierty on September 25, 1963 and of the workers of Bhelatand Colliery on September 26, 1963, and that the said lock-outs should be declared illegal for the purposes of the scheme.

(3.) The Regional Labour Commissioner decided the two applications filed by Shri B. N. Sharma in respect of the alleged lock-out of workers of Sijua and Bhelatand Collieries by an order dated November 22, 1963 and held that the non-working of Sijua and Bhelatand Collieries on September 25 and 26, 1963 respectively was due to a lock-out, which was illegal for purposes of the Scheme. It may be pointed out that the appellant had also filed four more applications relating to the failure of the workmen to work on September 15 and 29 in the two collieries which means that there were six applications before the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), Dhanbad filed by the appellant seeking declaration that the workers of Sijua and Bhelatand Collieries had resorted to strike on September 15, 22 and 29, 1963 which should be declared as illegal for purposes of the Scheme. The applications relating to the strike on September 15, 1963 both at Sijua and Bhelatand Collieries being declared as illegal were later withdrawn in view of the agreement dated September 18, 1963, with the result that only four applications by the appellant were ultimately adjudicated upon by the Regional Labour Commissioner who, by an order dated November 14, 1964, gave a declaration that there was no strike, much less an illegal strike, by the workers on September 22 and 29, 1963. This conclusion was arrived at on the basis of the finding that change in the weekly days of rest was not in accordance with law.