S.C.AGRAWAL - (1.) IN this writ petition filed under Article 32 of Constitution the petitioner viz. Food Corporation of INdia Workers' Union (hereinafter referred to as 'the petitioner union' representing the departmentalised labour employed by the Food Corporation of INdia (hereinafter referred to as 'the respondent corporation' is claiming parity in the matter of scales of pay, allowances and terms and conditions of service for departmentalised labour employed with the respondent corporation throughout the country.
(2.) THE respondent corporation has been established by the Food Corporation of India Act, 1964 enacted by Parliament. It carries on business of procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrains throughout the country. It functions through four zonal offices in the North, East, West and South Zones. Each zone is divided into regions and districts for the convenience of administration. Each district has got several depots under it. Earlier the handling work at the godowns at the various depots of the respondent corporation was done through private contractors. THEre was discontentment among the labour force working under the private contractors and they demanded abolition of contract labour system. This led to departmentalisation of the labour force consisting of handling mazdoors, sardars, munshis/mondals and ancillary mazdoor at some of the depots of the respondent corporation. This process of departmentalisation of labour force was started in 1970 and it was introduced gradually in stages. It has been extended to workers at the major ports and the depots in port towns as well as some of the depots in the various regions. THE respondent corporation is having departmentalised labour in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Delhi, U.P., Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. In the present writ petition we are concerned with departmentalised labour employed at the depots in Bihar, Assam, Orissa, U.P. and Delhi regions. The departmentalised workers engaged at the docks and the port godowns. and the depots in port towns are being paid wages on the same basis as the port and dock workers. The same principle has been adopted by the respondent corporation for all the departmentalised workers in the other depots in the State of West Bengal. When departmentalisation of labour force was introduced in other regions, a dispute arose with regard to the pay scales to be applied to such workmen and the said disputes with regard to the wage structure of departmentalised workers in all depots in Bihar, more particularly the depots at Gaya, Mokemah and Jamshedpur, was referred to the arbitration of Shri K. K. Mitra, a retired Judge of the Calcutta High Court, under Sec. 10-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The learned arbitrator gave his award (Annexure-II) dated Oct. 10, 1974 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Mitra Award' whereby it was directed that the wage structure of the departmentalised workers at the depots in Bihar should be brought in line and at par with the rates prevalent in Calcutta. The respondent corporation challenged the Mitra Award by filing a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court. The said writ petition was dismissed by a learned single Judge by Order dated 22/04/1977 and the appeal filed by the respondent corporation against the said Order of the learned single Judge was dismissed by the Divisional Bench of the High Court by Judgment dt. 14/03/1980. During pendency of the proceedings before the arbitrator the respondent corporation in their letter (Annexure-IV) dated 28/07/1973, had agreed that the Award of the arbitrator would apply in toto to the departmentalised workers in Assam, Bihar and Orissa, who have been departmentalised with effect from 15/06/1973. At the time of departmentalisation in 1973 the departmentalised workers in Delhi and U.P. were having the same pattern of pay scales as was applicable to workers at Calcutta Port and port city godowns. The case of the petitioner union is that the departmentalised labour at Calcutta Port and port city godowns and depots in West Bengal are treated at par with port and dock labour and have been given revision in their wage structure from time to time whenever such revision has been made for port and dock workers but for the departmentalised labour in the other regions similar revision was not made and as a result the departmentalised labour in Bihar, Orissa, Assam, U.P. and Delhi regions have been practically stagnating at very low levels of pay and the difference in the pay scales is sizeable. The petitioner union has prayed that a writ of mandamus may be issued directing the respondent corporation to adopt the same scales of pay, allowances and terms and conditions of service, including overtime benefits in duty hours, in respect of departmentalised labour throughout India and directing the respondent corporation to refix the scales of pay and allowances uniformly throughout India as applicable to the departmentalise labour employed by the respondent corporation in its godowns in the State of West Bengal and to give consequential benefits retrospectively with effect from I st January, 1974. In the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the respondent corporation it is stated that the departmentalised labour employed in the respondent corporation are having three different pay scales, viz. Calcutta Complex depots, East Zone depots and depots in Delhi and U.P. As regards the Calcutta Complex depot workers it is admitted that they are allowed the wage structure similar to that applicable to port and dock workers on the basis of the region-cum-industry formula for the reason that the departmentalised workers of the respondent corporation are working in the same region and are doing similar type of work as is done by the Calcutta Port and Dock workers. With regard to the departmentalised labour in Delhi and U.P., it has been stated in the counter-affidavit that the wages were evolved and applied to workers of these States since 15/06/1973 and that the said wage structure was revised with effect from 1/01/1978 and that similarly a different wage structure exists for departmentalised labour in West Zone (Manmade). As regards the departmentalised workers outside Calcutta Complex depots in the East Zone, it has been stated in the counter - affidavit that in view of the Mitra Award the departmentalised workers of Assam, Bihar and Orissa were given the same pay scales as the departmentalised workers in the West Bengal i.e. Calcutta Complex depots, but now the wage structure of the departmental workers of Assam, Bihar and Orissa is different from the wage structure of departmentalised workers in West Bengal inasmuch as two wage revisions have been allowed to Calcutta Complex workers with effect from 1/01/1974 and Jan 1/01/1980 on the pattern of wage revision allowed to port and dock workers by the Government of India and the said wage revisions have not been allowed to the workers of the East Zone depots. In the counter-affidavit it is further stated that on demand of the petitioner union the management of the respondent corporation have offered to revise the wage structure of the East Zone workers liberally, but not at the same level as paid to the Calcutta Complex workers. The case of the respondent corporation is that the Mitra Award did not cast any continuous obligation on the respondent corporation to allow the departmentalised workers of East Zone the subsequent wage revisions allowed to the Calcutta Complex workers. The case of the respondent corporation is further that the departmental workers working outside the port city godowns have been treated differently because there is differentiation in the job content of the workers employed in the ports and port city godowns and the workers working elsewhere inasmuch as the workers at the port city godowns have to perform their functions in a continuous chain of operations right from clearing from the ship up to the stacking in the godowns and loading into the wagons in close conjunction with the other workers in the port whereas at other depots the workers have to do their own work loading and unloading from the trucks, wagons and stacking in the godowns independently. It has been submitted that different wage structures for the labour working in different places does not amount to discrimination on the basis of region-cum-industry formula and that real discrimination would be if the departmental workers at the same place get a different wage while they perform the same duty and therefore, the same wage structure cannot be extended to all the departmentalised workers.
(3.) AN additional affidavit of M. L. Sharma has been filed on behalf of the petitioner union wherein it is stated that wage .revisions for departmentalised labour of the respondent corporation was granted to departmentalised workers in Calcutta and West Bengal in 1977, 1980 and 1984, to workers in U.P. in 1974,1980 and 1984 and to workers in Delhi in 1978, but for workers in Bihar, Assam and Orissa there has been no wage revision at all. It has also been stated in the said additional affidavit that 11,903 workers engaged at the various ports and at hinterland depots are being paid the same wages as are paid to port and dock workers and that apart from them there are about 4857 departmentalised workers employed in other depots who are not being paid equal wages. A reply to the said additional affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent corporation wherein the pattern of revision of wages of workers employed at Calcutta and in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi has not been disputed. It has been stated that the said wage revisions were effected as a result of bilateral negotiations and agreements depending on the local conditions based on the region-cum-industry formula.;