GENERAL SECRETARY, SHOPS AND GENERAL WORKERS CONGRESS Vs. TATA OIL MILLS COMPANY LIMITED & ALLIED COMPANIES; HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED; LABOUR COURT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a Union of the workmen, is agitating the cause of ten workmen who were alleged to have been terminated illegally from the employment of the respondent.

(2.) The workmen admittedly were contract labourers, who, on expiry of Exhibit P4 contract, approached the Conciliation Officer with a request for absorption, which request on not being conceded to, was referred as a dispute for adjudication under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 [for brevity "ID Act"]. The award is seen at Exhibit P2. The issue referred, as is seen from Exhibit P2 at paragraph 7 is, 'whether the 10 workmen named in the order of reference are eligible for absorption in the management and to the statutory benefits available to the regular workmen of the company'. The claim statement filed by the Union is that the workmen concerned are the workmen of the management and not of the contractor. The Labour Court noticed that though such a contention was taken in the claim statement, it concluded with the statement that an award be passed directing the management to absorb 10 workmen into regular rolls and to provide them all statutory benefits available to the regular workmen of the company.

(3.) The Labour Court rightly found that, if they were in fact regular workmen, then there was no question for a prayer for absorption to be raised. The evidence led before the Labour Court was also to the effect that the workmen were employed under the contractor; based on which the Labour Court passed an award affirming that statutory benefits available to regular workmen could be granted to such workmen only if the State Government, under Section 10(1) of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 prohibits the engagement of contract labour for the work which the workmen are doing under the contractor. Hence, the specific finding of the Labour Court was that the workmen were employed under the contractor and were not regular employees.