- (1.) BY Court. -At the instance of the workmen of Kathara Washery, represented by Bihar Colliery Kamgar Union, the following dispute, under sections 10(1) (d) and 2 (A) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, was referred for adjudication to the Central. Government Industrial Tribunal No.1, Dhanbad : "Whether the action of the management of Kathara Washery of C.C.L. postKatras, District -Giridih, by not making payment of equal pay for equal work and not regularizing the service of S/Shri Laxman Kumar Murmu and 170 other workmen engaged in the slurry ponds of Kathara washery at par to the corresponding categories of departmental employees of Kathara Washery is justified? If not, to what relief the workmen concerned are entitled to -
(2.) ACCORDING to the management, construction of Kathara coal washery was completed in the year 1969. It was designed, constructed and equipped for washing medium coal and beneficiation thereof so that clean coal of the specification stipulated by the Steel Plants can be produced from raw coal and supplied to the Steel Plants. The washed coal produced by the washery was loaded directly into the railway wagons through the mechanical means. The contractors were engaged for collection of some of the coal fines and rejects coming out of the coal washery along with the water. The job was not of a continuous or permanent nature. The management has no departmental worker. There was no relationship of employer and employee between the management and the aforesaid workmen. According to the sponsoring union, the aforesaid workmen were working in the slurry ponds of Kathara washery continuously since 1974 in permanent nature of job. Each of them had put in more than 240 days attendance in each calendar year and all of them have been working under the direct control and supervision of the management. Those workmen have been performing the job of cleaning, removing and excavating of slurry from the slurry ponds. Action of the management of Kathara Colliery in not making payment to the concerned workmen on the basis of equal pay for equal work and not regularizing them was illegal and unjustified. They were entitled to Group III wages as per NCWA I, II, III and IV for performing similar nature of job.
(3.) THE tribunal found that concerned workmen were engaged on the job of removal of slurry since 1974 or thereabout and were doing the job continuously over the years. Since the Government prohibited employment of contract labour on the job of removal of slurry, the concerned workmen doing that job shall be deemed to be the direct workmen of the management of Kathara Colliery from the date of the notification (11.12.1990). Evidently, the concerned workmen are a group of workmen, who have been performing the aforesaid job apparently under the contract system. The Union claimed that the contract system was a camouflage and it was asserted that the concerned workmen have been performing the job aforesaid under the supervision and control of the management and work implements were also being supplied by the management. The tribunal finally held that works done by the concerned workmen were integral part of the establishment of the management of Kathara Coal Washery and place of work also belonged to the same establishment.;