Judgment

CHINNAPPA REDDY

( 1 ) THE petitioners describe themselves as catering cleaners of Southern Railways represented by V. China Thambi and M. Mohan of the Vegetarian Refreshment Room, Central Station, Madras. The petition is claimed to be filed in a representative capacity on behalf of about three hundred and odd catering cleaners working in the catering establishments in various railway junctions of the Southern Railway and in the pantry cars of long distance trains running under the control of the Southern Railway. Since a long time they have been agitating for the abolition of the Contract system under which they are employed to do cleaning work in the catering establishments and the pantry cars and for their absorption as regular employees of the principal employer, namely, the Southern Railway. They complain that they are not even paid minimum wages. They are paid a pittance averaging from Rs. 2. 00. 00 to Rs. 2. 50. 00 per day. Although the contract system has been abolished in almost all the other Railways, the Southern Railway persists in employing contract labour for cleaning its catering establishments and pantry cars. As the several representations made by them to the