Page 213 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Labour Legislations

Notes The agreement between the Ahmedabad Millionaires' Association and the Ahmedabad Textile
Labour Association, which were signed on 27th June, 1955, laid down the procedure to be
followed for the grant of bonus and the voluntary settlement of industrial disputes. The salient
features of the first agreement are:
The agreement applied to all the member mills of the Association and contained terms for the
determination and settlement of bonus claims for four years - from 1953 to 1957. It was agreed
between the parties that the bonus would be payable only out of an "available surplus or profit"
after all the charges had been provided for - charges for statutory depreciation and development
rebate, taxes, reserves for rehabilitation, replacement and/or modernisation of plant and
machinery, including a fair return on paid-up capital.
The second Agreement provided that all future industrial disputes between the members of the
two Associations would be settled by mutual negotiation, failing which by arbitration, and that
they would not resort to any court proceedings for the purpose of resolving their disputes.

8.5.3 At the National Level

The agreements at the national level are generally bipartite agreements and are finalised at
conferences of labour and managements convened by the Government of India. The Delhi
Agreement of 7th February, 1951, and the Bonus Agreements for Plantations Workers of January
1956 are example of such bipartite agreements.
The Delhi Agreement was concluded at a conference of the representatives of labour and
managements and related to rationalisation and allied matters. It was agreed at this conference
that:
(1) Musters would be standardised and workloads fixed on the basis of the technical
investigations carried out by experts selected by the management and labour. At the same
time, the working conditions of labour would standardised. When a new machinery is set
up, a period of trial may be necessary before standardisation is effected.
(2) Wherever rationalisation is contemplated, fresh recruitment should be stopped; and
vacancies which occur as a result of death or retirement should not be filled.
(3) Surplus workers should be offered employment in other departments whenever it is
possible to do so. At the same time, it should be ensured that there is no break in their
service and that their emoluments do not go down.
(4) Whenever conditions in an industry permit -- that is, conditions governed by the raw
materials position, the state of the capital goods and the products manufactured by a
company - new machinery should be installed.
(5) Gratuities should be offered to workers to induce them to retire voluntarily.
(6) Whenever there is need for retrenchment, the services of those who were employed last
should be terminated first.
(7) Workers who are thrown out of employment as a result of rationalisation should be
offered facilities for retraining in alternative occupations. The period of such retraining
may be extended up to nine months. A scheme for this purpose should be jointly worked
out by the government, the employers and the workers.
(8) The maintenance of the workers during the period of their retraining would be the
responsibility of the employers, while the cost of this re-training would be borne by the
government.

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