OTHER SOCIAL SERVICES

LABOUR DEPARTMENT

Organisation.

ALL THE OFFICES DEALING WITH LABOUR MATTERS fall within the administrative control of the Industries and Labour Department of the Government of Maharashtra. The Commissioner of Labour is the head of all such offices. The. Commissioner of Labour has under him (i) Deputy Commissioners of Labour at Bombay and Nagpur, (ii) Assistant Commissioners of Labour at Bombay. Nagpur, Aurangabad and Poona, (iii) Chief Inspector of Factories, Bombay, with subordinate inspectors, (iv) Chief Inspector of Steam Boilers and Smoke Nuisances, Bombay, with Subordinate Inspectors and (v) the Chief Government Labour Officer, Bombay, with Government Labour Officers at important centres of the State.

Functions.

The Commissioner of Labour performs the statutory functions entrusted to him under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926; the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946; the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Working Journalists (Conditions of service and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1955; and the Motor Transport Workers Act. 1961, which are the Central Acts and the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946; the C. P. and Berar Industrial Dis-pures Settlement Act, 1947; and the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948, which arc the State Acts.

Apart from the above, he supervises the enforcement of the above acts administratively. The Commissioner of Labour supervises and co-ordinates the working of all the offices under his control. In addition, the office of the Commissioner of Labour has to compile and publish the Consumer Price Index Numbers for working class for Bombay, Sholapur, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nanded; conduct socio-economic enquiries into the conditions of labour; compile and disseminate information on labour matters generally and statistics regarding industrial disputes, agricultural wages, absenteeism, cotton mill production, trade unions etc. particulary; publish Labour Gazette and Industrial Court Reporter which are monthlies; supervise the working of the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948, wherever it is administered by local authorities and to undertake Personnel Management Advisory Service.

Labour Unions.

One of the Deputy Commissioners of Labour at Bombay, has been notified as the Registrar of Trade Unions under the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926, in addition to his duties as the Deputy Commissioner of Labour, Bombay. He is assisted in his work by the Assistant Commissioner of Labour, Poona, who works as the Deputy Registrar for the Poona region which includes Sangli district.

The work in connection with the administration of this Act includes the registration of trade unions under the Act, registration of amendments to the constitutions of the unions and preparation of the Annual Report on the working of the Act in the State based on the information contained in the annual returns submitted by the registered trade unions under section 28 of the Act. There are 23 registered trade unions in Sangli District.

One of the Assistant Commissioners of Labour at Bombay, has been appointed as the Registrar under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, and his jurisdiction extends over the whole of the State except the Marathwada and the Vidarbha regions. An Assistant Registrar has also been appointed and has been invested with all the powers of Registrar under the Act. The Registrar's work falls under the following heads, viz., (a) recognition of undertakings and occupations; (b) registration of unions; (c) maintenance of approved lists of unions; (d) registration of agreements, settlements, submissions and awards; and (e) maintenance of list of joint committees constituted under section 48 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act.

In Sangli district, there were, in 1964, two unions registered under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act as representative unions. The details about the same are given below:—

Labour Officer.

A Government Labour Officer has been posted at Sangli. He is a Class II Gazetted Officer and belongs to the general State Service. He works under the Chief Government Labour Officer, Bombay, and the Commissioner of Labour, Bombay. The Labour Officer is appointed primarily to implement the provisions of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, which is a State Act and is also notified as an Inspector under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, as also the Payment of Wages Act. In addition, he has been appointed as an Additional Inspector of Factories in respect of certain sections pertaining to the welfare provisions, under the Factories Act. The powers conferred and the duties imposed on a Labour Officer under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act are not restricted to any particular section under that Act; but are contained in the various provisions of the Act. [The powers and the duties of the Labour Officer are mainly given in Chapter VI and section 34 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act.] For the purpose of exercising his powers a Labour Officer may enter any place used for any industry, any place used as the office of any union and any premises provided by an employer for the residence of his employees. He is entitled to call for and inspect all relevant documents which may be deemed necessary for the due discharge of his duties and powers under this Act. He has also the power of convening a meeting of employees for any of the purposes of the Bombay Industrial Relatione Act, on the premises where the employees are employed and he may require the employer to affix a written notice of the meeting at such a conspicuous place as he may deem fit. A Labour Officer is charged with the duty of working after the interest of employees and promoting harmonious relations between the employers and the employees, of investigating the grievances of employees who are not members of the Approved Unions, and of members of an Approved Union on the request of such a union, of representing to the employers such grievances and of making recommendations to them in respect of the same and of reporting to the State Government the existence of any industrial dispute of which no notice of change has been given together with the names of the parties thereto. A Labour Officer, in certain contingencies, acts as a representative of the employees if so authorised by them, and where a representative union does not exist and he is not authorised also by the employees to act as their representative and where employees do not elect their own representative from amongst them, then he becomes their representative suo motu. In short, a Labour Officer has to work as a sort of residual representative of the employees. He has also to help the representative and the approved union. He has always to be in touch with the changes in the labour situation in the undertakings in the various industries covered by the Bombay Industrial Relations Act and to report major and important incidents to his superior officers and Government. He intervenes whenever there is a stoppage or strike and gives legal guidance and advice to the employees involved in such incidents. He does likewise in respect of employers in connection with the closures and lock-outs which may not be legal. In short, he explains the correct position under the law to the parties concerned with a view to seeing that anv illegal action on their part is rectified by them without any delay. A Labour Officer is probably the only executive officer envisaged under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act by virtue of powers conferred on him under section 82 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act who, except the person affected by any offence under the Act, can make a complaint to the Labour Court constituted under the Act. The Labour Court cannot take cognizance of any offence except on a report in writing from the Labour Officer of facts constituting such offence. In addition to the above, a Labour Officer can also start proceedings in a Labour Court under section 79 read with section 78 of the said Act. In short, a Labour Officer-has been given very heavy, one-ous and heterogeneous duties and responsibilities. He also informally advises the trade unions whenever they seek his advice on labour matters. For the purposes of certification of standing orders under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, a Labour Officer helps the Commissioner of Labour who is the certifying Officer under that Act in holding elections of the workmen concerned for the purposes of getting the names of their representatives who are to be associated with the discussion when the draft standing orders arc to be certified.

Industrial Arbitration and Adjudication.

The Court of Industrial Arbitration or the Industrial Court, Bombay, as constituted under section 10 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, has jurisdiction over Sangli district. [ The duties and powers of the Industrial Court are detailed in Chapter XIII of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act.] The Labour Courts at Bombay exercise jurisdiction over the Sangli district. These Courts are presided over by Labour Court Judges and enjoy such powers as are conferred upon them under sections 78 to 86 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act.

Wage Boards.

There are three Wage Boards appointed for the State one each for cotton textile industry, silk textile industry and sugar industry. The Wage Boards are to' decide such disputes as are referred to them by the State Government under sections 86C and 86KK of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act.

The Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 (LXXIX of 1948), has been applied to the municipal areas of Sangli and Miraj towns in the district.

The Employees' State Insurance Scheme has not been extended to the district.

No Consumers' Price Index Number is worked out for working class for Sangli or for any other centre in the district.

Factory Department.

The Factory Department is under the administrative control of the Commissioner of Labour, but the Chief Inspector of Factories has complete control of the technical side of the work of the department all over the State. Though the department is responsible mainly for the administration of the Factories Act (LXIII of 1948), it has to administer the Payment of Wages Act (IV of 1936), the Cotton Ginning and Pressing Factories Act (XII of 1925) {section 9, regarding approval of plans of new ginning factories only), the Employment of Children Act, 1938 and the Bombay Maternity Benefit Act (VII of 1929).

The department has a sub-office at Kolhapur, in charge of a Junior Inspector of Factories, an Officer belonging to the General State Services. The jurisdiction of this office extends over Sangli district.

The main function of the inspectors is to ensure that the provisions of the Factories Act and rules thereunder are observed by the managements of factories.

The inspectors, have also powers to prosecute, conduct or defend before the competent courts, cases under the Factories Act, the Payment of Wages Act and the Maternity Benefit Act.

Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation.

Under the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act (VIII of J 923), the Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation, Bombay, has been given exclusive jurisdiction over Bombay and Bombay Suburban District. The Commissioner has also exclusive jurisdiction to try all cases relating to the Western and Central Railways and hydro-electric companies under the management of Messrs Tata Hydro-electric Agencies Ltd., arising in the State, irrespective of the district in which they occur. The Commissioner has also general jurisdiction over the whole State. For the remaining areas of the State, Civil Judges have been appointed ex-officio Commissioners for their respective jurisdiction. The principal reason for giving the Commissioner for Workmen' Compensation, Bombay, jurisdiction over the whole State is to enable him to settle cases with insurance companies and other firms which have their head offices in Bombay City. But as this arrangement necessarily entails a certain amount of overlapping, Government have issued instructions under section 20 (2) of the Act for distribution of work between the Commissioner and the ex-officio Commissioners. Under these instructions, the Commissioner at Bombay is authorised—

(a) to receive deposits for distribution of compensation under sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 8; (b) to issue notices to and to receive applications from claimants in cases of deposits under these sub-sections; and (c) to receive agreements for registration under section 28, whenever the accident may have taken place.

Where a deposit is received or an agreement is tendered for registration the Commissioner concerned notifies the ex-officio Commissioner concerned. Applications for orders to deposit compensation when no deposit under section 8 (1) has been received, and other applications provided for in section 22 of the Act should be made to the ex-officio Commissioner concerned if the accident occurs in the Sangli district. Notices to employers under section 10-A, requiring statements regarding fatal accidents in the district is issued by the ex-officio Commissioner and reports of fatal accidents made under section 10-B are received by him. If after notice has been issued by the ex-officio Commissioner under section 10-A, the employer deposits the money with the Commissioner at Bombay, the latter notifies the receipt of the deposit to the ex-officio Commissioner concerned.

Applications for review or commutation of half-monthly payments have to be made to the Commissioner who passed the original orders.

As regards the cases arising out of accidents on the Southern Railway, they are dealt with by the ex-officio Commissioners concerned.

In Sangli district the civil judges have heen appointed authorities for the areas within their jurisdictions under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

Payment of Wages Act. Steam Boilers and smoke Nuisances Department.

Though this department is under the. administrative control of the Commissioner of Labour, Bombay, the Chief Inspector of Steam Boilers and Smoke Nuisances, who is the head of the office, has full control over the technical side of the work of the department and he is responsible for the smooth working and administration of the Indian Boilers Act, 1960, and rules thereunder.

The work carried out by this department mainly comprises the registration and inspection of steam boilers, economisers and steam pipes including mountings and other fittings. The registration and inspection work of the steam boilers in the district is carried out by the Inspector of Steam Boilers of Southern Division with his headquarters at Bombay.

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