Industrial court stays reinstatement of JCTS workers

November 25: For staffers of the Joseph Cardijn Technical School, Parel, the recent verdict of the 10th Labour Court ordering their reinsta...

November 25: For staffers of the Joseph Cardijn Technical School, Parel, the recent verdict of the 10th Labour Court ordering their reinstatement with full back wages was a fleeting relief.

The Industrial Court has ordered a stay on the reinstatement till January 30, 1998 after it was moved by the school management. The institute has been embroiled in controversy over various contentious issues for the last three years. JCTS employees were engaged in a conflict with late director Father Austin Cerejo for his alleged anti-labour policies. The Roman Catholic priest was murdered on January 5, 1997.

Cerejo joined JCTS in March 1995. Due to his alleged harassment, the institute’s employees joined Mumbai Mazdoor Sangh. Cerejo allegedly threatened to terminate their services if they remained members of the union.

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The employees gave Cerejo a charter of demands, which he did not accept. In October 1995, Cerejo retaliated by deducting wages. This was challenged before the Industrial Court, where a decision is pending. The employees then complained of malpractices by the management to various authorities, including the charity commissioner and the former archbishop Cardinal Simon Pimenta. Cerejo’s predecessor Fr Rupert D’silva was charged, along with turning-instructor Morgan D’mello and accountant Sydney D’souza, of defrauding the school of millions of rupees.

In June 1996, Cerejo issued retrenchment notices to the workers, saying there was no work in the machine shop. The employees’ counsel Rahul Nerlekar sought a stay under the Unfair Labour Practices Act. Interim relief was rejected by Labour Court, as it was held that evidence was needed to decide under whose jurisdiction the case fell. Both parties went in appeal, and the notice on retrenchment was stayed by the Labour Court and the Industrial court till August 28, 1996. The same day, the Industrial Court vacated the stay, and termination letters were served to the employees. The workers then moved Bombay High Court, which referred the matter back to Labour Court for decision on the question of jurisdiction.

The management lawyer S C Naidu contended that the Labour Court had no locus standi, claiming that it was the subject matter of Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Regulations Act, 1977.On October 24, 1997, presiding officer of Labour Court J K Patil held that the employees were employed in the factory of the school and were engaged in mass commercial production for various companies. Affirming its jurisdiction over the case, he said the school had engaged in unfair labour practices and had illegally terminated the services of the employees. Rejecting the dismissal order, the court ordered reinstatement with full back wages.