The settlement under Section 18(3)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, must be just and fair and cannot bind workmen if it does not meet this standard.

JUDGMENT :

ANIRUDDHA BOSE, J.

Leave granted.

2. The appellants before us are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (in short “ONGC”), a public sector undertaking engaged in the business of exploration and production of oil and gas. In this appeal, they assail a judgment of the Bombay High Court delivered on 30th January, 2020 in Writ Petition No. 13015 of 2019 in which the claims of workmen to be entitled to fixation of pay and other allowances as per an award of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal No. II, (“Tribunal”) Mumbai has been upheld with certain modification in the implementation part of that award. The controversy involved in this proceeding originates from a Direct Action notice raised by a Union (Oil Field Employees Association represented by their President-respondent no.1 in the present appeal) on 26th August, 2016. The workmen, whose cause the said Union were espousing, were engaged by and getting their salaries paid through different contractors appointed by the ONGC. ONGC’s stand all along has been that these were contractors’ workmen – and not workmen of ONGC. In fact, ONGC’s case is that another settlement has been reached with the Unions representing majority of the contractors’ workmen (over 77%) and that settlement arrived at on 19th September, 2016 is binding on all similar workmen including those represented by the respondent Unions. We shall address this issue later in this judgment. Earlier, there were three memoranda of understanding reached in the years 1992, 1995 and 2000 involving ONGC and different Unions representing the contract workmen working with the ONGC. These memoranda covered wages, allowances and other facilities to be provided by the contractors to the “contract labour”. Copies of these memoranda of understanding have been annexed at pages 93, 102 and 113 of the paperbook. The 2000 MoU had lapsed on 31st December, 2007.

3. There had been certain parallel developments on the industrial front involving ONGC and Unions espousing the cause of workmen engaged by their contractors, which cast a shadow on the dispute giving rise to this appeal. Six Unions representing workmen engaged by contractors had submitted a charter of 28 demands against ONGC and 57 of their contractors. This was admitted for conciliation. ONGC wanted to introduce a Fair Wage Policy (“FWP”) to cover contract employees. Negotiation in that regard had started among the parties. A Memorandum of Settlement was signed on 19th September, 2016 (to which we have already referred) under which the FWP extended to contract labourers of Western Offshore Unit, Mumbai was agreed to be implemented at all work-centers of ONGC. This settlement, according to the appellants, was in terms of Section 12(3) read with Section 18(3)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (the Act) and entailed upward revision of wages as also certain other measures of social protection including job security. The signatories to this settlement were contractors’ representatives and representatives of six Unions “In the presence of and representing principal employers” as also the Conciliation Officer. The representatives of ONGC signed in the capacity of representatives of the principal employer. The Tribunal and the High Court, however, held that the aforesaid arrangement was not settlement within the meaning of Section 18(3)(d) of the Act and was not binding on the workmen involved in the subject dispute. The Tribunal had also referred to certain order of status quo passed by the High Court to sustain its finding on this count. We shall however address this issue on merit, testing the reasoning of the High Court given in the impugned judgment.

4. The respondent-Oil Field Employees Association (the actual party-respondent no. 1 is the President of the Oil Field Employees Association) issued the Direct Action Notice on 26th August, 2016 to the appellants. This Union was registered in the year 2014 and claims to represent workmen engaged by contractors of t