The Management's transfer of workmen was ruled illegal due to violations of the Industrial Disputes Act during pending conciliation, affirming the Labour Court's authority to review such actions.

ORDER :

D.Bharatha Chakravarthy, J.

A.The Writ Petition:

This writ petition challenges the common award of the 1st Additional Labour Court, Chennai, dated 11.04.2018, in I.D. No. 219 of 2014 and 229 of 2014. By this award, the claim petitions filed by the workmen under Section 2A(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter ‘the Act’) were allowed by the Labour Court, ordering the reinstatement of the workmen with continuity of service and back wages.

1.1. Eleven workmen are involved in these industrial disputes. Their grievances are common and identical and are taken up and disposed of by this order.

B. Case of the Workmen:

2. The case of the Workmen is that the Management is engaged in the business of manufacturing automobile spare parts and supplying them to leading automobile manufacturing industries. There are more than 1,000 workers in the Management. Meanwhile, the Workmen joined the United Labour Federation and established its branch in the factory. Consequently, the Management began threatening the workers, stating that unless they left the Union, they would be terminated from service, and resorted to several unfair labour practices to instil fear psychosis among the workers. It even removed certain machinery from its factory in Sriperumbudur to its other units, violating Section 9 (A) of the Act. To victimize the Workmen and undermine their unity, on 02.03.2013, the Management issued an order of transfer, transferring 11 Workmen to another Company in Pune, M/s Chetak Logistics, to conduct an audit and provide support in strengthening the systems. The Management has no manufacturing facility or office in Pune. The Workmen were transferred to Pune solely due to their trade union activities.

2.1. On 22 March 2013, the Union raised an industrial dispute regarding the transfer. Pending conciliation, Management sent reminder letters to the Workmen to report to Pune. The Assistant Commissioner of Labour recorded a failure report. Subsequently, the Government referred the matter for adjudication to the Industrial Tribunal in Chennai, which is in I.D. No. 6 of 2014. The Workmen involved were machine operators with technical qualifications and had no role or qualifications related to auditing or quality control. The transfer was issued for mala fide reasons. Additionally, there was another industrial dispute pending concerning the same Workmen regarding wage revision. While both disputes were pending, the Workmen were dismissed from service without prior permission or approval from the appropriate authority under Section 33 of the Act. This dismissal is arbitrary and unjustified. Consequently, the Workmen were not gainfully employed, and the last drawn wages for each Workman amounted to Rs. 29,880/- (varying for each individual). For these reasons, the Workmen individually requested an award directing Management to reinstate them with full back wages, continuity of service, and all other consequential benefits, including bonuses and costs.

C. Case of the Management:

3. The Management’s position is that the Workmen joined the service in 1990 as Operator-Trainees. After successfully completing their probation, their services were confirmed effective from 01.01.2001. M/s Honey Well Turbo Technologies Limited, Pune, was one of the Management’s major customers. The supply of 'compressor housing' to this company constitutes 30% of its total business and revenue. This product undergoes quality checks at three stages. However, defects were identified in certain products from specific shipments to the customer destination in Pune. In these circumstances, while these spare parts were stored with M/s Chetak Logistics at its Pune warehouse, the Management engaged M/s Tirumala Services to conduct a firewall inspection. Tirumala Services was required to perform a meticulous inspection based on various parameters to ensure that no defective product reached the customer. When this arrangement was made, personnel from the Management had to part