Case: Technological Institute of Textiles Vs. Its Workmen and Others

1. This appeal, by special leave, is brought on behalf of the management of the Technological Institute of Textiles, Bhiwani, against the award dated 21 May, 1963 of the Industrial tribunal, Punjab at Patiala, in Reference No. 9 of 1962, which award was published in the Punjab Government Gazette, Part I, dated 21 June, 1963. By this award the tribunal adjudicated four items of dispute, viz. :(1) Whether the workmen are entitled to the grant of casual leave and sick leave with wages; if so, how much and with what details ?(2) whether the management be required to pay the same wages/dearness allowance to the sweepers working in the lines that is paid to the other unskilled workers ? If so, with what details ?(3) Whether the workmen are entitled to the payment for national and festival holidays on the basis of their average earnings of the month in which the holidays fall ? If so, with what details ?(4) Whether the jamadars, drivers and sweepers should be allowed weekly national and festival holidays with wages ? If so, how much and with what details ?

Reasoning: By the order granting special leave, this Court has restricted the scope of the appeal to items (1) andour opinion, the argument advanced on behalf of the management has no justification. As regards the settlement dated 7 July, 1959Ex. R. 4there is no evidence to show that the provisions of rules were 58 of the Industrial Disputes (Punjab) Rules were complied with and in the absences of necessary formalities it is not possible to hold the settlement was binding upon the parties. It also appears from this document that the demand for payment of double wages and compensatory holidays workers who are made to work in festival holidays not pressed by the Karamchari Sangh and the staff union. It is also apparent from the document that the demand for grant of casual leave to workers was also withdrawn. It appears from the dated 3 August, 1959 in Reference No. 33 of 1959 that the workers union did not press the demand with regard to festival holidays and accordingly the tribunal disallowed those demands.It is manifest in the present case that there has been no adjudication on merits by the industrial tribunal in the previous reference with regard to the matters to covers by items (1) and (3) of the present reference, because the workmen had withdrawn those matters from the purview of the dispute. There was also no settlement inbecause the demands in question had been withdrawn by the workmen and there was no agreement between the parties in regard thereto. Our conclusion, therefore is that the bar of S.19 of the Industrial Disputes Act does not operate with regard to the matters covered by items (1) and (3) of the present reference and the argument put forward by the appellant on this aspect of the case must be rejected.On the merits of the dispute it was contended on behalf on behalf of the appellant that there was no justification for the granting any casual leave or sick leave to the workmen employed. It was said that there was no practice of granting sick leave or casual leave in a textile mill. We do not think that there is any warrant for thisregard to sick leave, the argument on behalf of the appellant was that benefits were granted by the Employees State Insurance Act, but that is not a bar to the demand to the workmen for sick leave. The reason is that the first proviso to S.49 of the Employees State Insurance Act states that a person qualified to claim sickness benefit shall not be entitled to the benefit for on initial waiting period of two days except in the case of a spell of sickness following at an interval of not more than fifteen days, the spell of sickness for which benefit was last paid. It is apparent that the Employees State Insurance Scheme does not cover all contingencies of sickness and in any event the first two waiting days are not covered. In our opinion, the tribunal was, therefore, justified in its view that the workmen are entitled to 7 days sick leave with wages on production of a medical certificate.As regards item (3) of the reference, the tribunal has found that the method of calculation of wages adopted by the management shows that it was not making full payment for the national and festival holidays other to theworkmen or to the monthly rated workmen. The tribunal, therefore, ordered that the management should make full payment to all the workmen, whether monthly rated orwith regard to national and festival holidays.