MANSUKH GOPINATH JADHAV Vs. W M BAPAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is an employee of respondent No. 2, the Sanjivani (Takal) Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited and the petition is filed in a representative capacity on behalf of all the employees of respondent No. 2 to challenge the validity of the Award dated January 28, 1981 passed by the Industrial Court, Poona, in a reference under S. 73-A of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act").

(2.) Respondent No. 2 is running a Sugar Factory at Shingnapur, District Ahmednagar and the provisions of the Act are made applicable to the sugar industry. The respondent No. 3 is a registered trade union under he Trade Union Act. 1926 as well as the representative and approved union under the provisions of the Act for the sugar industry in the local area of Kopargaon Taluka. The conditions of service of the employees working in the sugar factory in Kopargaon Taluka were settled by various trade unions with the employers and these settlements were to expire on September 30, 1978. Prior to the expiry of this period, a charter of demands was served by the trade unions on the employers. There are two central organisations of the Maharashtra Sugar Workers to which various trade unions of the sugar workers are affiliated and these two central organisations are :- (1) Maharashtra Rajya Sakhar Kamgar Pratinidhi Mandal and (2) Maharashtra Rajya Sakhar Kamgar Kriti Samiti. Though the charter of demands was submitted by several trade unions, no effective settlement could be arrived at between the employer and the employees in spite of the appointment of a Tripartite Committee under the Chairmanship of the Labour Minister. Ultimately, various trade unions gave a call for the strike in the sugar industry and that led to the intervention by the Chief Minister in the demands made by the employees.

(3.) The Chief Minister of Maharashtra gave certain Award on November 26, 1979, and on the strength of that Award, a Tripartite agreement between Maharashtra Rajya Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Sangh Limited and Deccan Sugar Factories Association and the Maharashtra Rajya Sakhar Kamgar Pratinidhi Mandal was arrived at on January 21, 1980. Maharashtra Rajya Sakhar Kamgar Pratinidhi Mandal was representing the workers in the sugar industry. By this agreement certain advantages in regard to the basic wages and dearness allowance were conferred on the employees and cl. '10(c) of the agreement provides that every sugar factory should enter into an agreement with its recognised union as pert he agreement and should implement it. In pursuance of this agreement, the respondent No. 2, Karkhana issued an officer order on February 15, 1980, providing for implementation of the terms of the agreement from January 1, 1980. Prior to this date, the employees working in respondent No. 2 factory had gone on strike from January 22, 1980 to January 24, 1980, Subsequently, the strike was declared as illegal by the Labour Court. The second respondent implemented the agreement by giving first installment to the workers on April 21, 1980, and the second instalment was paid at a later date. Before the third and the last instalment was due, the respondent No. 3 which is the representative and approved union under the Act served a notice of change as contemplated under S. 42(2) of the Act on the Managing Director of the Karkhana. The copy of that notice is annexed as Ext. "C" to the petition. By this notice, the Managing Director of respondent No. 2 was Intimated that the representative - union desires a change a specified in the annexure to the letter. The annexure to the letter sets out that the second respondent is not implementing the tripartite agreement reached on January 21, 1980, and the respondent No. 3 called upon the respondent No. 2 to implement the same forthwith.