WORKMEN MYSORE PAPER MILLS LTD Vs. MANAGEMENT MYSORE PAPER MILLS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The reference out of which Industrial Dispute No. 147/66 before the Industrial Tribunal, Bangalore, arose and the Award dated 30th October, 1967 came to be passed bv it, was made by the Government of Mysore in its order No.LMA 268 LLD 66 dated 28th July 1966. The relevant portion of the said order reads as follows:

(2.) In para 2 of the claim statement made by the petitioners it was mentioned that the dispute referred for adjudication is in respect of seven foremen who have been discriminated by the II Party Management in fixation of their grades and in granting them increments. It was set out in para 3 that the discrimination was with reference to one Sri T. M. Narayanaswamy, who, it is alleged was doing the same kind of work like the first three workmen referred to in the reference and was given a higher grade of salary and higher rate of annual increment even though the work done by him is of the same kind and nature as those made by persons named above. Similarly, it was stated that the next three persons mentioned in the reference are also discriminated as two other foremen Sri M. R. Gopalaswamy Rao and Sri P. S. Madhusudan who are doing the same kind of work as the three persons mentioned above are given higher grades of salary and increment. So far as the last workman named in the reference, it was set out that other persons viz., Sri K. Ranganna, Sri Venkatesan and Sri C. V. Sreenivasa Iyer who are doing the same kind of work as Sri P. S. Prabhakar, were fixed at higher grades of salary. Thus, the complaint was that these seven workmen are discriminated with reference to the other workmen who are discharging the same kind of work. Another complaint was that while granting the annual increment to the seven foremen named in the Order of Reference, they are given lower grades while their juniors have been given higher grades and this is in utter disregard of all fair play and justice. The aggrieved workmen claimed that they are entitled for equal treatment with the others referred to above by them in the fixation of grades.

(3.) The Management-first respondent in its counter statement, amongst other contentions pleaded in para 6 as follows: