Ramachandran, J.

According to the petitioner, in view of the prevailing arrangements that workers on permanent basis are employed in their establishment at Puthencruz, attending to all the works available, any claims by outsiders for a right to the unloading work that may be there, is not legally tenable. The company imports and distributes various chemicals from other States of hazardous nature, and these require expert handling. The chemicals and compounds come in trucks of Tanker Lorries and the commodities are got unloaded by the regular workers in the establishment. On an average, 5 to 6 lorry loads of materials come in a month. The commodities are stored in their godown and they are in due course packed into smaller containers/units, according to the requirement of the customers. There are 9 permanent workmen on regular rolls, and this had been the pattern of work for the last about 6 to 7 years.

2. However, demand had come from respondents 4 to 6, trade unions, whereby the petitioner has been requested that the loading and unloading work of goods could have been carried out only by members represented by them and since the petitioner did not have any registered hea