GAJENDRAGADKAR, J. - (1.) THIS appeal by special leave arises from an industrial dispute between the respondent. British Overseas Airways Corporation, New Delhi, and the appellants, its workmen. This dispute had reference to the demands made by the appellants under eight different heads and it was referred by the Chief Commissioner, Delhi, for adjudication to the industrial tribunal, Delhi. On 1 August 1958, the industrial tribunal pronounced its award, dealing with all the items of dispute. The respondent felt aggrieved by some directions in the award, whereas the appellants were dissatisfied with some other directions. Both parties field applications for special leave to appeal against the respective portions of the award by which they were aggrieved. The application preferred by the respondent was dismissed whereas on the application preferred by the appellants leave has been granted limited to the question of overtime wages. That is hoe in the present appeal, we are concerned with the directions issued by the tribunal under the head "overtime wages".
(2.) THE tribunal has held that the respondent is entitled to fix forty-eight hours per week as the normal duly hours and on that basis, it has ordered that every employee shall be entitled to overtime payment for working beyond his normal duty hours and the hourly rate for such payment shall be calculated on the basis of forty-eight hours a week. Sri Sastri for the appellants contends that the tribunal was in error in fixing the normal working hours per week at forty-eight hours. He contends that the existing normal working hours were below forty-eight and so there was no justification for raising the normal workload in a way the tribunal had done. In this connexion, Sri Sastri referred us to the fact that it was common ground between the parties that under the existing arrangements, the employees of the respondent were classified into three categories, one of which worked for thirty-six hours, the other thirty-nine hours and the last forty-two hours. The first category consisted of employees in the accounts, scale, press liaison assistants, despatch, secretaries, stenographers and typists. This category was non-rostered. The second category which consisted of the rostered staff included those employees in reservations, traffic, operations, engineering, was concerned with communications and cargo as well as peons. The argument was that there was no justification for increasing the normal weekly hours of work and the change effected in the existing arrangement should, therefore, be set aside.In dealing with this argument, it is necessary to bear in mind certain distinguishing features of the work carried on by the appellants under the respondent's employment. The head office of the respondent corporation is in England and all its units in the servant countries of the world are controlled by a board in England. The conditions in which its staff has to work and the way in which airlines have to be operated differ widely from those in other industries, particularly in factories, shops and offices. The staff which handles aircraft, their passengers and cargo are not engaged in a continuous process of manufacture as in a factory nor are they continuously at the roster duty. It is well known that though the aircraft scheduled time of arrival and departure is known in advance, owing to vagaries of weather and technical defects which the aircraft are liable to disclose from time to time, dislocation in the schedule is caused several times. That is why it is only for about three-fourths of an hour before arrival and for a like period after the departure of an aircraft the staff has to do such work as is available to be done, but otherwise the members of the staff have to stand by. Even after the aircraft arrives it is detained for repair work if a mechanical trouble is disclosed and this work may last sometimes as long as twenty-four hours. That is the reason why unlike in other establishments, the problem of regulating the hours of work of the respondent's employees becomes complicated particularly a small aircraft station like Delhi.
(3.) IN this connexion, Galpin who was the manager of the respondent since January 1945 and had been in charge of the respondent's establishment in Delhi since 1948 when it was opened, has given evidence. He has stated that prior to 1954, there was no stipulation precisely defining the normal duty hours of the employees. It was in 1954 that the respondent stipulated timings and from 1 November 1954, it began to pay overtime wages. There is no serious dispute about the existing normal working hours in a week. But Galpin had stated that when the overtime payment system was introduced, overtime was paid to the employees if they worked beyond the existing normal weekly hours applicable to their category, but the calculation for the payment of overtime wages was made on the basis of forth-eight hours a week.Galpin also stated that the respondent was doing its best to make its employment attractive and offered such facilities to its employees as appeared reasonable to it. He has added that lately, airport staff have to go back from the town office to their homes on account of delay in the arrival of planes; sometimes the delay is as much as four or five hours; the staff required for duty have to stand by because their duty depends on the movement of aircraft; the respondent does not pay them separately for that stand by, because it pays them comprehensive wages taking in to account the special features of the service expected from the respondent's employees; if there is a gap in time between the duty for one place and the duty for the next place, the respondent allows those hours to be counted as duty hours, provided the gap is nor more than four hours; if the gap is greater, the staff are given transport to go to their homes.;