STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER Vs. WORKMAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The award in challenge is a direction given by the Industrial Tribunal, Chandigarh that the Greasers in R.S.D. Project would be entitled to the scale of Rs. 950-1800/- w.e.f. 01.01.1995 with initial start of Rs. 1,000/- per month in that scale and that arrears of pay in that scale shall become payable only from 01.09.1995.

(2.) Learned counsel for the State Ms. Monika Chhibbar contends that the Government Circular issued on 04.04.1989 (Ex.M-1) which sets down revision of scales of pay for work-charged employees of the Department of Irrigation & Power, obtained to Greasers a revision from Rs. 300-430/- to Rs. 750-1350/- and if the workmen had any grievance against this fixation, the remedy would be only to apply to the Pay Commission for appropriate reliefs and the Industrial Tribunal shall not have a power to re-write the scales of pay for the benefit of the workman.

(3.) If the award had been merely on the plea of the Union espousing the cause of the workmen that they shall be paid higher scale than what was being paid to unskilled workers with no other basis, then perhaps the reasoning of the Labour Court could be suspect and would require an intervention. However, in this case, the award takes note of the stand of the Department itself at various times assessing the quality of work and the category to which the workmen belonged. It was brought out on record before the Labour Court that in the Monthly Construction Force Report issued by the Engineer (Personnel Division), he had referred to the representations from various classes of persons and the need for categorization into four groups namely supervisory workman, skilled workman, semi-skilled workman and unskilled workman. It can be noticed that Greasers have been classified as semi-skilled workmen and under the unskilled workmen, there are Beldars, Boatmen, Cartmen, Chowkidar, Cleaners and Dak Runner. The further communications retain this categorization at all times and the Greaser has been shown to be a semi-skilled person while the unskilled persons were Beldars and others referred to above.