COMMON JUDGMENT

(Judgment of the Court was delivered by K.KUMARESH BABU, J.)

The instant writ appeals arise out of a common judgment passed by the learned single Judge, wherein he had upheld the notification issued by the Central Government abolishing contract labour system in trolley retrieval in the establishment of Airport Authority of India at Chennai.

2.There are four parties to the batch of these writ appeals. They are a) Airport Authority of India represented by its Director, Chennai Airport, who is the employer, b) Tamil Nadu Airport Workers Union - they represent the contract workers, who were employed as trolley retrieval workers till 2004, C) Tamil Nadu General Workers Union representing 19 contract workers, who were employed during 2004 and d) 65 Contract Workers represented by the 5 men committee, who had been employed during 2004.

3.The brief facts of the case are as follows:-

4.The Airport Authority of India, a Public Sector undertaking created by a statute is undertaking construction, operations of Airports, civil enclaves and their effective management and administration. As a part of its function towards baggage handling and movements for the convenience of passengers in the terminals, provides trolleys, which can be easily used by the passengers at the terminals. The said facility is available free of cost. However, the trolleys used by the passengers are dropped at their convenience at various places inside the Airport as well as outside the Airport. Therefore, the Airport Authority of India had to employ persons for retrieval of the trolleys, which shall be placed at the convenient place for the passengers' use. Instead of appointing such trolley retrieval workers, directly the Airport Authority of India chose to enter upon into the contracts with private persons.

5.It is the case of the workers represented by both the Unions that the Airport Authority of India had been engaging the services of the trolley workers continuously during their employment. But however, the contractors were changed. It is the case of the Tamil Nadu Airport Workers Union that they were instrumental in moving the Central Government to abolish the contract labour system, as the employment is continuous/perennial and round the clock. After various litigations, the Central Government issued a notification on 05.11.2014, prohibiting the employment of contract labour in the job of trolley retrieval in the establishment of the Airport Authority of India at Chennai.

6.W.P.No.6485 of 2015 had been filed by the Tamil Nadu Airport Workers Union seeking to implement the notification issued by the Central Government. W.P.No.15917 of 2015 was filed by the Airports Authority of India challenging the said notification. W.P.No.21515 of 2013 was also filed by five individual workers, who formed a committee representing 65 trolley retrieval workers seeking for a Mandamus that their service should not be discontinued and that their claim should be directed to be conciliated and on failure of such conciliation to be referred for adjudication before the competent Industrial Adjudicator.

7.A similar relief was also claimed by the Tamil Nadu General Workers Union by filing W.P.No.40237 of 2016. In this case, the Union represented 19 workers. The workers sought to be represented in W.P.Nos.21515 of 2013 and 40237 of 2016 formed a same class of workers, all of them having been appointed during 2004. Hence, there are three set of litigants before this Court and they shall be addressed in this common judgment as a) Airport Authority of India, b) Tamil Nadu Airport Workers Union and c)

Tamil Nadu General Workers Union for convenience.

8.Heard Father Xavier Arulraj, learned Senior Counsel for M/s.Arul Mary, learned counsel for the appellant in W.A.Nos.3003 and 3007 of 2019, 1020, 1023 and 1024 of 2020, 1761 of 2021 and 2529 of 2022, M/s.Vaigai, learned Senior Counsel for Mr.K.M.Ramesh, learned counsel for the first respondent in W.A.No.1020 of 2020 and the third respo