To
Labour Commissioner,
Commissioner of Labour
Office,
DMS, Teynampet,
Chennai.
Respected
Sir,
We on behalf of the 108
Ambulance Workers Union – a registered trade union functioning in the public
private partnership concern GVK – EMRI, Tamilnadu bring to your knowledge the
anti worker attitude practiced by the management in conducting domestic
enquiries utterly violating the principle of natural justice.
Giving meager wage of Rs
7000/- to 8000/- and transferring them to places far away from their places of posting
the management of GVK EMRI create conditions wherein the Pilots and EMTs will not continue in
service for long. In many cases the management swindles their wages also. This
they do by getting wages from the government for the workers so driven out on
the one hand and not paying the same to them on the other .This is the very
normal practice mercilessly being followed by the unscrupulous and ruthless
management of GVK-EMRI Tamil Nadu.This practice make many Pilots and EMTs to undergo
innumerable hardships. Previously when there was no organization to fight for
the rightful causes of them the management was hardly bothered about conducting
legally necessary domestic enquiries. After the formation of our union when we
insisted upon and put pressure upon, the management had to comply with labour
law provisions. Nowadays it has started conducting domestic enquiries even for
those workers who were denied employment long back in order to give some resemblance
of legality for its illegal acts.
Normally domestic
enquires will go hand in hand with suspension orders. That is why the acts of suspensions
would normally be called suspension pending enquiries. But as per law
subsistence allowance should be given for the suspended workers for their
period of suspension. For many of those workers against whom now the management
has started conducting domestic enquiries no subsistence allowances were paid even
though the concerned workers were out of service months together.
As per law domestic enquiries
are to be conducted fully complying with the principle of natural justice. It
means full opportunity must be given for those suspended and charge sheeted workers to participate in
the enquiry with the extension of all the facilities to bring forth their
witnesses and giving full opportunity to cross examine the witnesses produced
by the management. For producing the witnesses of the charge
sheeted and suspended workers it is very much necessary that the enquiries are
being conducted on the places of occurrence of the incidents themselves.
The management which
initially complied with this norm and conducted the enquiry of one EMT by name
Saravanan and one Pilot by name Satheesh in Madurai which is the nearest city
to the place of occurrence of the incident, a place called Melur. Suddenly
changing its attitude it has started conducting enquiries at Chennai for almost
all workers who were charge sheeted and suspended. They include one Mr. Anbarasan
an EMT cadre working in Bagayam near Vellore town. When a part of the enquiry
had been conducted in the case of Satheesh, Elango and Saravanan keeping one
advocate by name Arunachalam as enquiry officer the management has suddenly
shifted the venue of enquiry to Chennai announcing another advocate as the
enquiry officer. For Muruganandam another EMT attached to Thanjavur and another
Jegan a Pilot attached to Manapparai near Trichy also the venue of enquiry was
fixed at Chennai.
Though the management
is coming forward to give travelling allowance to the charge sheeted employee
and another co-staff participating in the enquiry as his aid about the
witnesses the management does not say anything. Even if they come forward to
give travelling allowance to the witnesses the witnesses will not be coming
forward to take the trouble of travelling up to Chennai leaving all their other
works just for the shake of giving evidence. Understanding fully well this problem
the management is wantonly depriving workers off evidences coming in favour of
them.
Further in the case of
those workers who seek time for preparing themselves well for the enquiry through
requisition letters which is an accepted method and practice at enquiry
proceedings the management is not only not giving time but conducts enquiries
one-sidedly without the participation of the concerned workers themselves.
Taking evidence against the workers from the managerial personnel and sending
the copy of the enquiry proceedings so conducted it asks the charge sheeted
workers to come and participate in the middle accepting the one-sided evidences
as such.
Thus the GVK-EMRI,
Tamilnadu management is reducing the principle of natural justice which is to
be safeguarded as the apple of an eye in the domestic enquiry proceedings into
a mockery. And in many cases in the enquiry letter itself it says betraying its
intention of its intent of awarding punishment without any qualms. This type of
anti labour attitude has created enormous discontentment and mental turmoil to
the workers. The management knows fully well that the decisions taken upon by
this type of fake and farcical enquiries will fall flat before the court of Law.
But it believes that the delay will kill the worker and try to take undue
advantage of their inability to withstand it.
However this tendency
and practice is invariably creating a mind set among the workers to go for
direct action such as strike rather than fighting their case in such a trap and
sticky wicket. Since this will create industrial unrest and affect industrial
relations we request your good offices to come forward and to impress upon the
management to abandon this unhealthy, unjustified and unlawful practice of
making domestic enquiry into a mockery and farce and conduct them genuinely
giving credence to the cardinal principles of natural justice.
Date: 26.07.2013 Yours
Faithfully
Place: Chennai
Copy
to: The Joint Director (Health) K. Pal Kannan
Tamilnadu Organizing
Secretary
108
AWU
Reg.No:
1508/MDU
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