MAHARASHTRA EMPLOYEES UNION Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner has filed the present Writ Petition to espouse the cause of its two workmen namely Mr. S.C. Pandey and Mr. Keshav Gosavi who were working as security guards with the Respondent no.3. It is prayed as follows:-

(2.) The Petitioner, Mr. Pandey was working with the Respondent no. 3, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. in short (ONGC) since 24th April 1992, whereas Mr. Gosavi was working since 6 th October 1989. It is the case of the petitioner that the said two workmen had not received payment from December 2013 to December 2014 and therefore, the Oil Field Employee 's Association filed an application claiming unpaid wages before the wages authority. The authority by an order dated 9th October 2015 directed the Respondent no.3 not only to pay the wages to the members but to pay an additional sum of Rs.39,000/- towards compensation. The Respondent no.3 had hired the Respondent no.4 - CIS Bureaus Facility Services Private Limited as it was a security agency. The wages of the Petitioners was not being paid from January 2015 onwards and therefore, the Oil Field Employee 's Association were constrained to file proceedings before the Wages Authority. The said application was dismissed on the ground that it was beyond the purview of the said Act.

(3.) The workmen had then resigned from Oil Field Employee 's Association on 14th December 2017 and joined the Company of the Petitioner. They were assured that they would get the response. A demand letter was filed on behalf of the workmen by the Company on 10th September 2018 and therefore the Petitioner by a letter dated 24th September 2018 requested the Deputy Regional Commissioner (Central)-Respondent no.2 to call Respondent no.3 for negotiation and amicable settlement. The Respondent no.3 filed a reply before the Deputy Regional Commissioner (Central) contending therein that it is the policy of the company to rotate the workers every six months. The two workmen for whom the Petitioner was seeking negotiation and amicable settlement continued to work at the same place for a long time which was basically against the practice of rotation.