SubmitteSubmitted by: Submitted to :Mr.

U S Wahie Lecturer Labour Law New Delh Abhishek Pathak Mohit Goel MBA III SEMESTER SECTION 6 MKT. AND HR

What is the objective and purpose of Industrial Employment (standing orders) Act, 1946?
The Government have amended the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946 to include Fixed Term Employment Workman in the Schedule of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and Model Standing Orders annexed to the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946 vide Notification GSR No.936 (E) dated 10.12.2003 published in the Gazette of India. A fixed term employment workman will be engaged on the basis of contract of employment for a fixed period. However, his working hours, wage allowances and other benefits shall not be less than that of a permanent workman. He shall also be eligible for all statutory benefits available to a permanent workman, proportionately according to the period of service rendered by him, even though his period of employment does not extend to the qualifying period of employment required in the Statute. The proposed amendments will improve suitably the work culture and productivity, at the same time ensuring social security to the workman employed on fixed term basis.

Definition The expression "employment agreement" means an agreement relating to the remuneration or the conditions of employment of workers of any class, type or group made between a trade union of workers and an employer or trade union of employers or made, at a meeting of a registered joint industrial council, between members of the council representative of workers and members of the council representative of employers;
The expression "the register" means the Register of Employment Agreements; The word "registered", in relation to an employment agreement, means for the time being registered in the register; The expression "registered employment agreement" means an employment agreement for the time being registered in the register.

Registration of employment agreements

1) Any party to an employment agreement may apply to the Court to register the agreement in the register. (2) Every application to register an employment agreement shall be accompanied by a copy of the agreement. (3) Where an application is duly made to the Court to register in the register an employment agreement, the Court shall, subject to the provisions of this section, register the agreement in the register if it is satisfied (a) That, in the case of an agreement to which there are two parties only, both parties consent to its registration and, in the case of an agreement to which there are more than two parties, there is substantial agreement amongst the parties representing the interests of workers and employers, respectively, that it should be registered, (b) That the agreement is expressed to apply to all workers of a particular class, type or group and their employers where the Court is satisfied that it is a normal and desirable practice or that it is expedient to have a separate agreement for that class, type or group,

(c) That the parties to the agreement are substantially representative of such workers and employers, (d) That the agreement is not intended to restrict unduly employment generally or the employment of workers of a particular class, type or group or to ensure or protect the retention in use of inefficient or unduly costly machinery or methods of working, (e) That the agreement provides that if a trade dispute occurs between workers to whom the agreement relates and their employers a strike or lock-out shall not take place until the dispute has been submitted for settlement by negotiation in the manner specified in the agreement, and (f) That the agreement is in a form suitable for registration. (4) Where an application is made to the Court to register an employment agreement, the Court shall direct such parties thereto as the Court shall specify to publish specified particulars of the agreement in such manner as, in the opinion of the Court, is best calculated to bring the application to the notice of all persons concerned. (5) (A) The Court shall not register an employment agreement until the lapse of fourteen days after publication of particulars of the agreement in accordance with subsection (4) of this section. (b) If within that period the Court receives notice of an objection to the agreement being registered, the Court shall, unless it considers the objection frivolous, consider the objection and shall hear all parties appearing to the Court to be interested and desiring to be heard, and if, after such consideration, the Court is satisfied that the agreement does not comply with the requirements specified in subsection (3) of this section, the Court shall refuse to register the agreement. (6) A registered employment agreement shall not prejudice any rights as to rates of remuneration or conditions of employment conferred on any worker by another Part of this Act or by any other Act.

What is a Lay off? State and explain the conditions under which the workmen are entitled to get lay off compensation?

As per the Industrial Dispute Act 1947

Lay-off means the failure, refusal or inability of an employer o account of shortage of coal, power or raw materials or the accumulation of stocks or the breakdown of machinery or natural calamity or for any
LAY-OFF:

other connected reason to give employment to a workman whose name is borne on the muster-rolls of his industrial establishment and who has not been retrenched

Definition
As per section 2(kkk) of the Industrial Dispute act, 1947,Lay-off means unemployment resulted on account of a cause which is independent of any action or inaction on the part of the workman, which may be due to following reasons:1. When the workman presents himself for the work and the work is not given. 2. The employer on workman presenting himself in the first half of the day directs him to come in the second half of the day and he is given work in the second half of the shift. 3. When the workman comes in the second shift and yet he is not given work. Basically, when a workman comes for work and he is not given work within 2 hours, he will be deemed to be laid off for the whole day. The lay off can be due to various reasons like: Lack of raw material, Lack of Electricity, Accumulation stocks, Natural calamity, Break down of machinery etc.

25-M Prohibition of lay-off

(1) No workman (other than a badli workman or a casual workman) whose name is borne on the muster-rolls of an industrial establishment to which this Chapter applies shall be laid-off by his employer except 1[with the prior permission of the appropriate Government or such authority as may be specified by that Government by notification in the Official Gazette (hereafter in this section referred to as the specified 6

authority), obtained on a application made in this behalf, unless such lay-off is due to shortage of power or to natural calamity, and in the case of a mine, such lay-off is due also to fire, flood, excess or inflammable gas or explosion.] (2) An application for permission under sub-section (1) shall be made by the employer in the prescribed manner stating clearly the reasons for the intended lay-off and a copy of such application shall also be served simultaneously on the workmen concerned in the prescribed manner. (3) Where the workmen (other than badli workmen or casual workmen) of an industrial establishment, being a mine, have been laidoff under sub-section (1) for reasons of fire, flood or excess of inflammable gas or explosion, the employer, in relation to such establishment, shall, within a period of thirty days form the date of commencement of such lay-off, apply, in the prescribed manner, to the appropriate Government or the special authority for permission to continue the lay-off. (4) Where an application for permission under sub-section (1) or subsection (3) has been made, the appropriate Government or the specified authority, after making such enquiry as it think fit and after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the employer, the workmen concerned and the persons interested in such lay-off, may, having regard to the genuineness and adequacy of reasons for such lay-off the interests of the workmen and all other relevant factors, by order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, grant or refuse to grant such permission and a copy of such order shall be communicated to the employer and the workmen. (5) Where an application for permission under sub-section (1) or subsection (3) has been made and the appropriate Government or the specified authority does not communicate the order granting or refusing to grant permission to the employer within a period of sixty days from the date on which such application is made, the permission applied for shall be deemed to have granted on the expiration of the said period of sixty days. (6) An order of the appropriate Government or the specified authority granting or refusing to grant permission shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (7), be final and binding on all the parties concerned and shall remain in force for one year form the date of such order. (7) The appropriate Government or the specified authority may, either on its own motion or on the application made by the employer or any workman, review its order granting or refusing to grant permission under sub-section (4) or refer the matter or, as the case may be , cause it to be referred, to a Tribunal for adjudication : Provided that where a reference has been made to a Tribunal under this sub-section, it shall pass an award within a period of thirty days form the date of such reference. 7

(8) Where no application for permission under sub-section (1) is made, or where no application for permission under sub-section (3) is made within the period specified therein, or where the permission for any layoff has been refused, such lay-off shall be deemed to be illegal from the date on which the workman had been laid-off and the workman shall be entitled to all the benefits under any law for the time being in force as if they had not been laid-off. (9) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, the appropriate Government may, if it is satisfied that owing to such exceptional circumstances as accident in the establishment or death of the employer or the like, it is necessary so to do, by order, direct that the provisions of sub-section (1), or as the case may be, sub-section (3) shall not apply in relation to such establishment for such period as may be specified in the order. (10) The provisions of section 25-C (other the second proviso thereto) shall apply to cases lay-off referred to in this section. Explanation, For the purposes of this section, a workman shall not be deemed to be laid-off by an employer if such employer offers any alternative employment (which in the opinion of the employer does no call for any special skill or previous experience and can be done by the workman) in the same establishment from which he has been laid-off or in any other establishment belonging to the same employer, situate in the same town or village, or situate within such distance from the establishment to which he belongs, that the transfer will not involve undue hardship to the workman having regard to the facts and circumstances of his case : Provided that the wages which would normally have been paid to the workman are offered for the alternative appointment also.

Lay-Off compensation
As per section 25 c whenever a workman is laid off, he shall be entitled to receive lay-off compensation for all days during which he is so laid off except for such weekly holidays as may intervene. The lay-off compensation would be equal to the 50% of the Basic wages and Dearness Allowance that would have been paid to him had he not been so laid off. The workman can recover it if the employer fails and neglect to pay it. The workman can recover it in two ways either by filling the application under section33 c (2) of the act, or by obtaining a reference under section 10(1) of the act.

Explanation:- Whenever a workman (other than a badli workman or a casual workman) whose name is borne on the muster rolls of an industrial establishment and who has completed not less than one year of continuous service under an employer is laid off, whether continuously or intermittently, he shall be paid by the employer for all days during which he is so laid off, except for such weekly holidays as may intervene, compensation which shall be equal to fifty per cent of the total of the basic wages and dearness allowance that would have been payable to him had he not been so laid off : Provided that if during any period of twelve months, a workman is so laid-off for more than forty-five days, no such compensation shall be payable in respect of any period of the lay-off after the expiry of the first forty-five days, if there is an agreement to that effect between the workman and the employer : Provided further that it shall be lawful for the employer in any case falling within the foregoing proviso to retrench the workman in accordance with the provisions contained in section 25F at any time after the expiry of the first forty-five days of the lay-off and when he does so, any compensation paid to the workman for having been laid-off during the preceding twelve months may be set off against the compensation payable for retrenchment. Explanation : "Badli workman" means a workman who is employed in an industrial establishment in the place of another workman whose name is borne on the muster rolls of the establishment, but shall cease to be regarded as such for the purposes of this section, if he has completed one year of continuous service in the establishment.

25-E Workman not entitled to compensation in certain cases.No compensation shall be paid to a workman who has been laid-off. (i) If he to accept any alternative employment in the same establishment from which he has been laid-off, or in any other establishment belonging to the same employer suitable in the same town or village or situate within a radius of five miles from the establishment to which he belongs, if , in the opinion of the employer, such alternative employment does not call for any special skill or previous experience and can be done by the workman : Provide that the wages, which would normally have been paid to the workman, are offered for the alternative employment also; (ii) If he does not present himself for wok at the establishment at the appointed time during normal working hours at least once a day ; (iii) If such laying-off is due to a strike or showing down of production on the part of workmen in another part of the establishment. 9

What is Industrial dispute? What are the exceptions to rule that an individual dispute cannot be an industrial dispute?
The Industrial Disputes Act Objectives To provide a machinery for peaceful resolution of disputes and to promote harmonious relation between employers and workers.

Scope and coverage

Applicable to all industrial and commercial establishments 10

Covers all workers and supervisors drawing salaries up to Rs. 1600/- ($35.82) per month. Not an applicable to person employed in managerial and administrative capacities.

Main provisions Defines industry, industrial dispute, layoff, lockout, retrenchment, trade union, strike, wages. workman, etc. Provides machinery for investigating and settling disputes through works committees, conciliation officers, boards of conciliation, courts of enquiry, labour courts, tribunals and voluntary arbitration. Reference of dispute for adjudication. Awards of labour courts and tribunals. Payment of wages to workers pending proceedings in High Courts. Rights of appeal. Settlements in outside conciliation. Notice of change in employment conditions. Protection of workmen during pendency of proceedings Strike and lockout procedures. Lay-off compensation. Retrenchment compensation. Proceedings for retrenchment. Compensation to workmen in case of transfer of undertakings. Closure procedures. Reopening of closed undertakings. Unfair labour practices. Recovery of money due from employer. Penalties. Obligations and rights of employees.

When to consult and refer

When a dispute arises with the workers' union. When you plan changes in employment conditions. When there is a strike. When there is a lockout. When retrenchment of workmen. When undertaking is being transferred On closure of an establishment. On re-opening establishment.

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Introduction - Every right comes with its own duties. Most powerful rights have more duties attached to them. Today, in each country of globe whether it is democratic, capitalist, socialist, give right to strike to the workers. But this right must be the weapon of last resort because if this right is misused, it will create a problem in the production and financial profit of the industry. This would ultimately affect the economy of the country. Today, most of the countries, especially India, are dependent upon foreign investment and under these circumstances it is necessary that countries who seeks foreign investment must keep some safeguard in there respective industrial laws so that there will be no misuse of right of strike. In India, right to protest is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. But right to strike is not a fundamental right but a legal right and with this right statutory restriction is attached in the industrial dispute Act, 1947.

Position in India In India unlike America right to strike is not expressly recognized by the law. The trade union Act, 1926 for the first time provided limited right to strike by legalizing certain activities of a registered trade union in furtherance of a trade dispute which otherwise breach of common economic law. Now days a right to strike is recognized only to limited extent permissible under the limits laid down by the law itself, as a legitimate weapon of Trade Unions. The right to strike in the Indian constitution set up is not absolute right but it flow from the fundamental right to form union. As every other fundamental right is subject to reasonable restrictions, the same is also the case to form trade unions to give a call to the workers to go on strike and the state can impose reasonable restrictions. In the All India Bank Employees Association v. I. T. , the Supreme Court held,

"the right to strike or right to declare lock out may be controlled or restricted by appropriate industrial legislation and the validity of such legislation would have to be tested not with reference to the criteria laid down in clause (4) of article 19 but by totally different considerations."

Thus, there is a guaranteed fundamental right to form association or Labour unions but there is no fundamental right to go on strike. Under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 the ground and condition are laid down for the legal strike and if those provisions and conditions are not fulfilled then the strike will be illegal.

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Summarize the Law relating to Retrenchment from the following point of View (i) Conditions precedent to retrenchment (ii) Procedure for Retrenchment (iii) Re-Employment of retrenched workers.

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25F. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO RETRENCHMENT OF WORKMEN. - No workman employed in any industry who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer shall be retrenched by that employer until - (a) the workman has been given one month's notice in writing indicating the reasons for retrenchment and the period of notice has expired, or the workman has been paid in lieu of such notice, wages for the period of the notice; (b) the workman has been paid, at the time of retrenchment, compensation which shall be equivalent to fifteen days' average pay for every completed year of continuous service or any part thereof in excess of six months; and (c) notice in the prescribed manner is served on the appropriate Government or such authority as may be specified by the appropriate Government by notification in the Official Gazette. 25G. PROCEDURE FOR RETRENCHMENT. - Where any workman in an industrial establishment, who is a citizen of India, is to be retrenched and he belongs to a particular category of workmen in that establishment, in the absence of any agreement between the employer and the workman in this behalf, the employer shall ordinarily retrench the workman who was the last person to be employed in that category, unless for reasons to be recorded the employer retrenches any other workman. 25H. RE-EMPLOYMENT OF RETRENCHED WORKMEN. - Where any workmen are retrenched, and the employer proposes to take into his employment any persons, he shall, in such manner as may be prescribed, give an opportunity to the retrenched workmen who are citizens of India to offer themselves for re-employment, and such retrenched workmen who offer themselves for re-employment shall have preference over other persons

What is the Machinery setup under Industrial Dispute Act,1947 for the settlement of Industrial Disputes?
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MACHINERY (CIRM) Chief Labour Commissioners (Central) Organisation, also known as CIRM is an 14

attached office of the Ministry. The CIRM is headed by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central). It has been entrusted with the task of maintaining Industrial Relations, enforcement of Labour Laws and verification of Trade Union Membership in central sphere. CIRM has complement of 25 officers at the Head Quarters. In the field, the machinery has a complement of 253 Officers. The offices of these Officers are spread over different parts of the country with zonal, regional and unit level formations. FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANISATION The function of CRIM broadly consists of settlement of industrial disputes, enforcement of labour laws in Central sphere and verification of membership of trade unions. FUNCTIONS OF CRIM (i) Prevention and settlement of Industrial Disputes, in central sphere; (ii) Enforcement of Labour Laws and Rules made there under in central sphere; (iii) Implementation of awards. (iv) Quasi Judicial functions. (v) Verification of the membership of the Trade Unions. (vi) Welfare. (vii) Other Miscellaneous functions. PREVENTION AND SETTLEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES The CIRM ensures harmonious Industrial Relations in the central sphere Establishments through: 1) Monitoring of Industrial Relations in Central Sphere. 2) Intervention, mediation and conciliation in Industrial Disputes in order to bring about settlement of disputes. 3) Intervention in situations of threatened strikes and lockouts with a view to avert the strikes and lockouts. 4) Implementation of settlements and awards. 5) Enforcement of other provisions in Industrial Disputes Act relating to: (i) Works Committee, (ii) Recovery of Dues, (iii) Lay off, (iv) Retrenchment, (v) Unfair Labour Practices etc. During the year 2001-2002 the CIRM intervene in 630 threatened strikes and its conciliatory efforts succeeded in averting 622 strikes, which represents a success rate of 98.7%.

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Another important function of CIRM is enforcement of Labour Laws in the establishments for which Central Government is the appropriate Government. The machinery enforces following Labour Laws and Rules framed there under : a) Payment of Wages Act 1936 & rules made thereunder for Mines, Railways, Air Transport Services & Docks, Wharves and Jetties. b) Minimum Wages Act 1948 and rules. c) Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 and rules d) Equal Remuneration Act 1976 & rules. e) Inter State Migrant Workmen (RE&CS) Act 1979 and rules. f) Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 and rules. g) Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and rules. h) Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing returns and Maintaining Registers by certain Establishments) Act 1988. i) Building and other constructions workers (RE&CS) Act, 1996 and rules. j) Chapter VI-A of Indian Railway Act; Hours of Employment Regulations for Railways Employees k) Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 & Rules. l) Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Mines and Circus Rules, 1963); & Rules. m) Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 There are approximately 1.5 lacs establishments in the Central Sphere. The Inspecting Officers of CIRM inspect these establishments under different Labour enactments through routine Inspections and Special Drives for Inspections under the crash inspection programmes and taskforce inspections to secure benefits of the beneficial legislations to workers. Special emphasis is given to enforcement of beneficial enactments such as CL (R&A) Act and M.W. Act and B.O.C.W. Act in the unorganised Sector. Prosecutions are launched against persistent defaulters and in respect of major violations. During the year 2001-02 CIRM officers carried out 34968 inspections, rectified 360712 irregularities, launched 16040 prosecutions and secured 7475 convictions of defaulting employees. 16

IMPLEMENTATION OF AWARDS The officers of CIRM implement awards issued by CGITs. During the year 2001-2002, 1018 awards were received (including BF). Out of these 189 were implemented, implementation of 471 Awards was in progress, implementation of 275 Awards was stayed by High Courts & implementation of 83 Awards was pending due to other reasons. Difficulties in implementing the awards are experienced as employers bring stay orders from High Courts on implementation. Besides, sanction for prosecution of employers by the employing Ministries as required under section 197 of CrPC seldom comes. . MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS The CIRM performs the following miscellaneous functions also: 1. Conducting periodic meetings of Minimum Wages Advisory Board and notifying V.D.A. every six months as per A.I.C.P.I. number. 2. Defending M.O.L. in Writ Petitions filed against Ministry in different High Courts. 3. Investigations of Complaints as per direction of the Ministry. 4. Assisting Central Advisory Contract Labour Board as convenors of different sub-committees to examine prohibition of contract Labour in different employments. 5. Assisting Ministry in preparation of different reports required to be submitted to I.L.O. 6. Supplying information to Ministry in replying Parliament Question on statutes enforced by CLC(C) organization. 7. Advising M.O.L. in Conflict situations like strikes of All India Nature and other Labour matters. 8. Attending to Parliamentary Committees and other important delegations as per advice of the Ministry. 9. Keeping Liaison with State Government Labour Departments for collection of information as per direction of Ministry.

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10. Assisting M.O.L. in training of C.L.S. officers.

CONSTRAINTS OF ENFORCEMENT MACHINERY Though the industrial activity and the volume of trade and business as also the number of laws on the statute book have increased considerably, the enforcement machinery has not kept pace with the same. Numerically, the machinery is too inadequate. In central sphere alone there are about 1.5 lakh establishments as against which there are 125-130 Labour Enforcement. Officers effectively available at a given point of time for enforcement work. They (along with few inspections every month by Assistant Labour Commissioners) are able to carry out about 30,000 inspections in a year which means inspection of each of 1.5 lakh establishments once in 5 years or so. They are provided with very poor infrastructural back up. Though each LEO(C) is required to cover 5 to 6 districts no vehicles or modern communication system are provided to them. They have been assigned multifarious functions e.g. conciliation work (in some of the cases) verification of membership of trade unions and enquiries into complaints, representations, VIP references etc. The problems get compounded as after the inspections they are also required to file as well as conduct the prosecution/claim cases before the appropriate courts/authorities. There are several instances where cases in courts situated in different directions were fixed for hearing on the same day and cases were dismissed in default on account of non-appearance of inspecting officer. Inspite of the observations and advice of the apex court in various cases that the judicial magistrates should take the labour cases more seriously, these cases continue to get least priority. Inspecting officers are summoned for producing evidence even after they are transferred to other places or after their superannuation/retirement from service. The punishments prescribed for infringements which are mostly fines are very low under most of the statutes (except a few of them) but the fines imposed by the magistrates are generally much less than what are prescribed. All this does not create any deterrent effect and only emboldens the offending employers to continue to violate the provisions of law as complying with the same is costlier alternative than paying a paltry sum as fine.
ADJUDICATION There are 17 Central Govt. Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Courts (CGITs) constituted by Labour Ministry dealing with the industrial disputes in respect of which the Central Government is appropriate Government. Of these 17 CGITs, two each are located at Mumbai and Dhanbad and one each at Asansol, Bangalore, Bhubneshwar, Chandigarh, Chenai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jabalpur, Jaipur, New Delhi and Nagpur. It is also proposed to set up five more CGIT-cum-Labour Courts during 2001-2002 at Ahmedabad, Chandigarh,

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Delhi and Ernakulam (Cochin) (the CGIT-cum-Labour Courts proposed in Delhi and Chandigarh will be in addition to one each already existing). In order to reduce the pendency of cases and to tide over this pendency issue, to hold Lok Adalats in CGITs, the first of which was held on 09.11.2001 where the response of employers and employees and their Chapter. respective unions had been encouraged. This is one of Ministrys on going scheme of activities to liquidate the pendency. The Industrial Tribunals and Labour Courts set up by the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations are also utilized by Central Government for adjudication of Industrial Disputes and disposal of applications under Section 33 C (2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 in the Central Sphere. Data of the number of cases and applications handled by the CGIT-cum-Labour Courts during the year 2001 MONITORING OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS The Labour Relations Monitoring Unit was set up in the Ministry of Labour in 1981 for monitoring information on industrial relations throughout the country. Its objective was to resolve, industrial disputes and contain general industrial unrest through preventive mediation. The unit monitors the extent of industrial harmony on the basis of the information it collects on the number of strikes/lockouts, its spatial distribution, the number of workers involved in it, and the manday lost. The number of units reporting retrenchment and the extent of lay offs are also important variables affecting industrial relations. STRIKES & LOCKOUT The current year has seen a significant improvement in industrial relations. The number of strikes and lockouts and more importantly the number of workers affected due to these disturbances has shown a significant decline. During January-September, 2001, the number of strikes and lockouts declined by 16.6% and 8% respectively as compared to the same period in the previous year. The decline in the number of workers involved in the unrest by 32% has been extremely significant as compared to that of the previous year. At the sectoral level too, there has been a promising improvement in the quality of industrial relation across all sectors. The spatial/ industry-wise dispersion of the number of strikes and lockouts and the workers involved/affected as a result of this is not uniform. Among States, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh were the most affected. Among the industry groups, textile (170), engineering (110) and coal mining (75)

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showed considerable worsening in the quality of industrial relations. It is pertinent here to note, that most of these industry groups have been the worst affected by industrial sickness. Man-day lost in a direct measure of the impact of industrial unrest on the workmen. At the aggregate level, man-day lost due to strikes and lockouts has shown a significant increase of about 29% in January-September, 2001 as compared to the same period in the previous year. Much of the increase in the man-days lost has been due to a sharp rise in lockouts as compared to a very slight rise in strikes. However, intervention of CIRM in promoting industrial harmony was evident from the fact that the man-days lost in the center sphere declined sharply from 1.19 million in Jan-Sept. 2000 to 0.52 million in Jan.-Sept., 2001. A sectoral break up of man-days lost in Public and Private Sectors shows that Public sector accounted for only 4.8% of the total man-days lost. Most of the industrial unrest as indicated by the strikes and lockouts has been primarily related to indiscipline, violence, personnel matters and non-payment of wages and salaries.

RE-CONSTITUTION OF SPECIAL TRIPARTITE COMMITTEE/INDUSTRIAL TRIPARTITE COMMITTEES In order to promote the spirit of tripartism several industrial tripartite committees have been constituted. These tripartite bodies aim at solving the industry specific problems related to workers in the Sugar industry, Cotton Textile industry, Electricity Generation and Distribution, Jute industry, Road transport, Engineering industry and Chemical industry. In addition a Special Tripartite Committee has been constituted to discuss general matters pertaining to Government reforms policies and their impact on workers.
A meeting of the Tripartite Industrial Committee on Engineering Industry was held on 28th May, 2001. The Committee recommended that: (i) There should be more frequent social dialogue/tripartite meetings to discuss the impact of economic reforms and globalisation of Indian industry and labour and to take the social partners into confidence about the policies of the Government. The management should take necessary measures to enhance productivity/ efficiency/competitiveness through better management, up gradation of technology, involvement of workers in decision making, etc.

(ii)

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(iii) (iv)

Efforts should be made to revive sick companies, including PSUs, more expeditiously. The training/ skill development of workers should be in tune with changing work/job requirements in order to minimize redundancies. Labour laws and inspections should be simplified, specially for the small scale industries. However, at the same time, it should be ensured that labour laws are not violated to the detriment of workers. The social security scheme should be strengthened, made more effective and widened in scope and coverage.

(v)

(vi)

(vii) There should be a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in State public enterprises and the private sector. Governments proactive role through timely and effective conciliation of industrial disputes and involvement of social partners in the tripartite forums has successfully harmonized the interest of employers and workers resulting in a change of attitude from that of confrontation to that of collaboration. CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL TRIBUNAL Section 10(I-A) provides that where the Central Government is of the opinion that any Industrial Dispute exist or is apprehended and the dispute involves any question of national importance or is of such a nature that industrial establishments situated in more than one state are likely to be interested in or affected by such dispute and that dispute should be adjudicated by a National Tribunal then the Central Government may, whether or not it is the appropriate government in relation to that dispute, at any time, by order in writing, refer the dispute, whether it relates to any matter specified in second for schedule or the third schedule to a National Tribunal for adjudication. The Ministry of Labour on receipt of a representation from the concerned parties examines the matter in consultation with the concerned parties and if satisfied can make a reference to the National Tribunal. Two references to the National Tribunal have been made during the year. The first reference was regarding the dispute between the management of major ports and their workmen represented by Five Federation of Trade Unions. The dispute involved issues relating to deployment of workers for handling cargo on board and on shore and the need

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to fix uniform manning scales in major ports. The second dispute referred to the national tribunal was between the management of FDC Ltd. and the Medical Representatives of India. The issues raised in the dispute were related to the action of the management in terminating the 58 medical representatives and to decide the nature of relief medical representatives were entitled to. STUDY OF RESTRUCTURING PROCESS OF CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS The Industrial Relations Division of the Ministry has been studying the restructuring process of the Central Public Sector Undertakings and has been giving views from time to time on proposals of closure, rehabilitation of sick CPSUs, disinvestments, and other related matters regarding the interest/welfare of the workers. The Division also monitors the position of outstanding statutory dues of workers employed in CPSUs. ARBITRATION BODY BOARD OF ARBITRATION (JOINT CONSULTATIVE MACHINERY) The Government of India had introduced in 1966 a scheme for Joint Consultative Machinery and Compulsory Arbitration for resolving differences between the Government, as employer, and the general body of its employees. The Scheme provides for Compulsory Arbitration on pay and allowance, weekly hours of work and leave of a class of grade of employees. Under the Scheme, the Board of Arbitration (JCM) was set up in July, 1968. The Board consists of a Chairman and two other Members. The Chairman is a whole time person. The Ministry of Labour appoints the other two Members at the time of referring the dispute to the Board out of a panel of Members both from the Staff Side as well as from the Official Side maintained by it. Till 31st July, 2001, 249 Cases had been referred to the Board and Board has given its Award in 244 Cases.

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