Joint grievance petition

2013 PLC 39 LABOUR-APPELLANT-TRIBUNAL-PUNJAB Judicial Precedent

S. 33(10)Joint grievance petition

Petitioners/employees, whose services were terminated, filed joint grievance petition, but Labour Court ordered them to withdraw their joint grievance petition and instead file separate grievance petitions as each petitioner had independent cause of action; and as dates of birth of the petitioners and dates of entry in service were different

Validity

Section 33(10) of Punjab Industrial Relations Act, 2010 provided that workers having a common grievance arising out of a common cause of action could make a joint application to the Labour Court

Object of said provision was to avoid multiplicity of proceedings where a number of workers had identical or similar grievance

Such workers could maintain a joint grievance petition instead of filing separate or individual grievance petitions

Said provision was designed to give an option to a plurality of workers having a common grievance or cause of action to bring a single, but joint grievance petition

Revision petition filed by the employees against the impugned order of the Labour Court was objected to on the ground that same was not competent for not being supported by a proper affidavit

Such technical objection could not be sustained considering that a mere irregularity could not make the revision petition incompetent

Under provisions of S.47(5) of Punjab Industrial Relations Act, 2010, Labour Appellate Tribunal, in exercise of its revisional jurisdiction, had wide and suo motu powers to satisfy itself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any order passed by a Labour Court within its jurisdiction

Revision petition was allowed and impugned order was set aside, with the direction that the issue of maintainability of the joint grievance petition was to be decided by Labour Court in the light of observations of the Appellate Tribunal.