Page 104 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Unit 4: Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1986

Notes
failed and it is found that the contract was valid, they can still ask for a direction to the
government to consider their representation for abolition of contract labour. Thirdly, where
the workers contend that the contract between the principal employer and the contractor
was a camouflage merely to deny them the benefits of the labour laws, they can seek relief

under the Industrial Disputes Act.
In the second decision, IAAI vs International Air Cargo Workers’ Union, the workers lost their
case of nearly two decades, after seven rounds in the Madras High Court and the Supreme
Court. In these years, the contractors had changed and the conditions had changed.
However, the Supreme Court found that the (i) contract labour agreement between IAAI
and the society engaging the cargo handlers was “not sham, nominal or a camoufl age”
and the contract labour were not direct employees of IAAI; (ii) there was no violation
of the Industrial Disputes Act; and (iii) in the absence of a notification under Section 10

of Contract Labour Act prohibiting the employment of contract labour in the airport, the
workmen were not entitled to claim absorption.
One result of these intricate interpretations of the law is that contract workers have
practically ceased to move the courts. Only those unions which have the fi nancial and

organisational stamina can fight a case for more than a decade while their members face
starvation. If this is the situation in government undertakings, the morale in private sector
employment can well be imagined.
Question
Analyze this case and disscuss. The confusion relating to workers in the context of the
provisions of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act.

4.3 Summary

Outsourcing and contracting has become a business necessity in order to be competitive.
At the same time, contract labour is one of the most exploited sections of human labour. A
good number of contract labourers are employed in selected industries
During the post-Independence period, several statutory and non-statutory measures have
been adopted to regulate and improve the conditions of contract labour.
The objective of the Act is to regulate the employment of contract labour in certain
establishments and to provide for its abolition in certain circumstances.

Under the Act, the appropriate Government is empowered to extend the application of
the Act to any establishment or contractor employing less than 20 workmen after giving
two month’s notice. Where the registration of any establishment has been obtained by
misrepresentation or suppression of any material fact, or that for any other reason, the
registration has become useless or ineffective and, therefore, requires to be revoked,
the registering officer may, after giving an opportunity to the principal employer of the

establishment to be heard and with the previous approval of the appropriate Government,
revoke the registration.

The registering officer may entertain any such application for registration after the expiry

of the period fixed in this behalf, if he is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by
sufficient cause from making the application in time

Under Section 13, every application for the grant of a licence shall be made in the prescribed
form and shall contain particulars regarding the location of the establishment, the nature
of process, operation or work for which contract labour is to be employed and such other
particulars as may be prescribed.

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