Permanent negotiation machiney

Indian Railways study material

1. PERMANENT NEGOTIATION MACHINEY BY MOHANDAS P ASST. PROFESSOR(PERSONNEL MGT .) National Academy of Indian Railways

2. STAFF COUNCILS  AND NEGOTIATING MACHINERY HAVE BEEN DEFINED IN CHAPTER   XXVI OF THE INDIAN RAILWAY ESTABLISHMENT MANUAL VOL.II (SECTION 2601-2616)

3. 2601. Object .- The object of creating these Councils is to maintain good relations and a spirit   of co-operation between the Administration and all  classes of non- gazetted staff by  providing a means  whereby :- (a) Staff can bring questions in  connection with their conditions of service to the notice of the administration; (b) Matters of common interest connected with working of the undertaking may  be discussed with a view to improving efficiency; and (c)  The councils may function  as  welfare committees and advise on all welfare activities. The councils are not to be mere forums for ventilating grievances of the staff. Discussions should be encouraged on various phases of the railway operations and methods of work with which the staff are intimately concerned and on suggestions to improve efficiency all round.   

4. 2602. Powers (a) Cases of disciplinary action, transfers and other such matters pertaining to individual railway servants, which do not involve any  general principle, shall not be discussed at the meetings . (b) Staff councils will discuss only matters pertaining to the staff served by them. Where the  matters raised at a certain level are matters of policy beyond the scope of the officers on the staff Council they should be referred for discussion at the Board’s level.

5. 2603. Composition- Staff Councils shall consist of (a) Elected members, (b) Nominated members, (c) Presidents nominated by General Managers or Chief Administrative officers and (d) Members co-opted ad-hoc . (a) Elected members will be drawn from as wide a range of different categories of non- gazetted staff as possible according to schedule drawn up by the General Manager or Chief  Administrative Officer. Class IV and workshop staff (Where special workshop Councils do not exist) should be well provided for . (b)  Nominated members will be  gazetted or non- gazetted staff. They will be nominated by the General Manager or Chief Administrative officer or such other officer as he may detail in this behalf.

6. (c)  Presidents, who will be gazetted railway servants, will be nominated by the General Manager or Chief Administrative officer., (d) Co-opted members  will be gazetted or non- gazetted railway servants nominated as the General Manager or Chief Administrative officer or other officer detailed by him in this behalf  may direct, and as may be required from time to time, when specific matters on which their advice will be of value, are under discussion.

7. 2604 . Eligibility for election.All non- gazetted staff excluding apprentices with more than three  years continuous service will be eligible for election to staff Councils.       2605. Election.-Elections to the Staff Council will  be held once in two or three years and by ballot. The franchise should include all non- gazetted railway servants excluding apprentices. Each railway servant will vote for a member of his category. 

8. 2606. Meetings.- Meeting of staff  Councils shall not be held more often than  once every two months or less often than once every four months.  2607. Agenda.-Draft resolutions for inclusion  in the agenda shall be sent by the members of the Council to the  Secretary so as to reach him at  least ten days before the date of the meeting. The agenda for the meeting shall be circulated by the Secretary of the Council at least seven days before the date of the meeting. The Secretary of the  Council shall intimate to the members of the Council the date fixed for the meeting, at least fifteen days in advance. 

9. 2608. The  quorum for all Council meetings will be one-third of the total number of members .  2609. Absence from meetings.-  A member not attending a Council meeting on   three successive occasions. Without good and sufficient reasons, may be expelled from the council, by the members passing a resolution  to the effect. The Council shall be the sole judge as to  whether the reasons advanced by the members, if any, are good and sufficient. The absence on account of leave,  sickness or not being spared due to pressure of work, will be regarded as good and sufficient reasons.  2610. Filling of Vacancies.-  Vacancies caused during the period of tenure of a Council, shall be filled by bye- election or fresh nominations as will be necessary. 2611. Minutes -     Resolutions passed by the Council will be drawn in the form of minutes and entered in the Minutes Book. Copies thereof shall be circulated by the Secretary of the Council to each member and to the staff Council (s).

10. 2612. When action is required to be taken by any staff Council on the resolutions passed, the President of the Council shall indicate what action on the items is required to be taken thereon . 2613. At each meeting, the Secretary shall place before the Council the decisions given by the various departmental officers received after the date of the last meeting on the items of the preceding meetings. Numbers of the resolutions in all these meetings not finally disposed of shall be mentioned as outstanding items. The Council shall consider whether any of the outstanding items should be dropped or whether action should be pursued and in what way in respect of other items .

11. 2613A Subsidiary Rules :  The General Manager will, if required, draw-up subsidiary rules in regard to matters laid down in these rules and also in regard to details of procedure so long as these are not inconsistent with any of the rule made  by the President or the Ministry of Railways. 

12. Negotiating machinery for dealing with disputes between Railway Labour and Railway Administrations:-   The permanent negotiating machinery will maintain contact with labour and resolve disputes and differences which may arise between them and the Administration.    The machinery is to work, in three tiers, viz . The Railway level.- In this   the recognised union  will have access to District or Divisional  Officers and subsequently to officers at the Headquarters including the General Manager. The Railway   Board level. In cases where matters  are not settled at Railway level, they will be taken up by the Federations with the Railway Board .

13. The Tribunal   level -In cases in which agreement is not reached between the Federation and  the Railway Board  and the matters are of sufficient importance, reference will be made to an ad hoc Railway Tribunal composed of representatives of the Railway Administration and labour presided over by a neutral chairman.

14. 2616. The following detailed procedure is laid down for the working of the machinery referred to above:-- (i)  At the district or divisional level the   district   or Divisional Officers should meet the branches of the recognised Unions which may be established in the districts or divisions at least once in two months and oftener if necessary. Each workshop will be considered as a district. The    particular branches which should meet the District  or Divisional Officers as prescribed   above   should be agreed upon between the   General   Manager and the Union. In the  Divisional pattern of working, the Divisional representatives of a union, who shall represent all   the   branches of the union in the Division should be enabled to meet the Divisional Superintendent, who may or may not be assisted by   the   branch  officers. The detailed  procedure   of  arranging these meetings would be agreed upon with the Union, but this should include a provision that the  branch  should  supply  in sufficient time before the meeting the subjects which it proposes  to raise at the meeting with complete memoranda setting out its points of view. 

15. (ii) At the Railway Headquarters, the General Manager or the    Assistant/Deputy   General Manager in charge of staff  will meet the Unions at least once a quarter and oftener if necessary. (iii) All disciplinary matters  and subjects like promotion, transfer etc. of individual members of the staff which do not involve any general principle will be excluded from the scope of the discussions at all these level except at the discretion of the officer concerned. Where however unions have been given certain privilege in these matters these will not ordinarily be curtailed. (iv) At the district or divisional and railway levels, subject will comprise of those which are within the powers of the officers concerned. (v) Question concerning pay scales, allowances, etc., will only be discussed between the Federation and the Railway Board and not at lower level.

16. (vi) At the centre, negotiations will be between the Railway Board and the Federation and for this purpose, there will be quarterly meetings between the Railway Board and the Federation . (vii) When a matter which is raised for discussion at the district or divisional level is not settled by agreement, it may be raised at the railway level for further negotiation. Similarly, a matter not settled at the Railway level may be brought by the Federation to the Railway Board for discussion . (viii) All subjects brought up for discussion at the various levels should be disposed of as expeditiously as possible. Brief minutes of discussion indicating the decision arrived at should be sent to unions concerned for their information.

17. ( ix) If, after discussion between the Railway Board and the  Federation, agreement is not reached on any matters of importance, such matters   may be referred to an ad-hoc Railway Tribunal which will be set up for dealing with them at the centre. This tribunal will consist of an equal number of representative of Railway labour and the Railway Administration with a neutral Chairman. The Tribunal will be enabled to make such investigation, as they deem necessary before they give their decision. (x) It  would be open to Government of accept,  reject or modify the decision of the Tribunal and where the matters in dispute affect the  workers under Ministries other than the Railway  Ministry, those  Ministries will be consulted as to-

18. (i) whether they have any  objection to the disputes being referred to the Railway Tribunal, or (ii) Whether they   would like the   dispute to be   referred to an ad-hoc commission on which they will also be represented. On matters which have Been settled by agreement or in which Government or in which Government ultimately accept the decision of the Tribunal, it will not be open to the Federation to raise the same issue again for a. period of two years. In those cases in which Government have rejected or modified the decision of the   Tribunal, the issue may be raised at the end of one year.        

19. P N M (Permanent Negotiation Machinery It was founded by shri . V.V.Giri in the year 1951 when Shri . LalBahadurShastri was the Railway minister of India. Object : With a view to maintain the contact with organised labour and to settle differences and disputes arising between organised labour and Railway administration a machinery has been setup and is called as permanent negotiation machinery. PNM was on three-tier basis 1. The Railway level 2. The Railway Board level 3. The Ad-hoc tribunal level 1. The Railway Level: At Railway level there are further two levels i ) The divisional level/ store depot level/ workshop level ii) The Zonal Railway level

20. The divisional level/ store depot level/ workshop level : a) DRM/ Dy. COS/ CWM works as it ’ s chairman and the Sr. DPO/ DPO/ SPO/ APO works as its sectary. b) Subject agenda must be circulated one month in advance. Out of agenda items may also be discussed with permission of chairman and chairman can discussed any item out of agenda. c) Meeting : once in two month separately with representatives of NRMU & CRMS . d) Matters discussed which comes within the powers of DRM/ Dy. COS/ CWN. ii) Zonal Railway Levels : a) Chairman- GM Secretary - CPO. b) Subject agenda must be circulated one month in advance. Out of agenda items may also be discussed with permission of chairman and chairman can discussed any item out of agenda. c) Meeting : once in three months separately with representatives of NRMU & CRMS d) Matters discussed which comes within the powers of GM or which could not be settled at the divisional level.

21. 2. The Railway Board Level : a) Chairman- Member staff Secretary - Dy. Director Establishment b) Subject agenda must be circulated one month in advance. Out of agenda items may also be discussed with permission of chairman and chairman can discussed any item out of agenda c) Meeting : once in three months separately with representatives of NFIR & AIRF. d) Matters discussed which comes within the powers of Railway Board or which could not be settled at the Zonal Railway level.

22. 3. Ad-hoc Tribunal Level : The matter of important nature on which no agreement is reached upto the Railway Board level. b) Chairman would be retired judge of High court or Supreme court having his own staff, and equal representatives of labour and administration. c) The award given by the tribunal is not binding. The government may accept, reject or modify the award of the tribunal. d) The matter settled by the tribunal or decision of tribunal once accepted by the government shall not be opened by unions for a period of two years. e) Where the government reject or modify the decision of the tribunal then the same items may be raised at the end of the year by the union.

23. JOINT CONSULTATIVE MACHINERY (JCM) The Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) came into being during October, 1968. The Machinery provided for the setting up of a National Council at the Centre and the Departmental Council in every department for the settlement of disputes, between the Central Government and its employees. In case of disagreement on (1) Pay & Allowances (2) Hours of work, and (3) Leave, the dispute was to go for compulsory arbitration 'to the Tripartite Board of Arbitration which would be presided over by a Supreme Court Judge or one who was eligible to be appointed as such. The NFIR had a special reason to be satisfied at this development, for its persistent efforts to bring about machinery through the negotiations with the Central Government authorities, had at last succeeded. The NFIR insisted that the employees should have the right to disagree with the employer and upon disagreement the matter should compulsorily be referred to arbitration, whose decision must be taken as binding. To the NFIR, machinery meant more than means for settlement of disputes. 

24. Believing in the efficiency of collective bargaining, the NFIR has extended full co-operation in the working of the Permanent Negotiating Machinery and the Joint Consultative Machinery for Railwaymens ' benefit. Till date 92 meetings under the PNM Rules and 54 meetings under the Departmental Council (JCM Rules) have been held in which more than 4502 subjects were discussed at the Railway Board level. Besides, many special meetings were held on several occasions to discuss special problems of different categories of staff.

25. BOARD OF ARBITRATION In the early 70s, important awards were secured from the Board of Arbitration (JCM) at the instance of the NFIR on the issues viz., Grant of Semi-Skilled Grade to all Gangmen , Grant of Transfer Allowance to all Class III and Class IV employees, Grant of Special pay of Rs.150/- per month to Loco Foreman Grade Rs.450-575 (AS), Revision of the scale of pay of Stock Verifiers, Grant of Scale Rs.260-350 to Fireman Grade ' B', Grant of Scale to Shunters ' B' identical to that of Shunters ' A', Revision of Pay Scales of the Message Checkers, merging of the Junior & Senior Accountants in a single scale, Grant of 12 days Casual Leave to Workshop Staff; Revision of the Scales of Pay of Daftries , Assistant Commercial Inspectors and Progress Chasers. In respect of the Running Supervisors, the Tribunal awarded removal of imbalances in the case of Inspectors arising from revision of the running allowance rate of the drivers, from time to time.

26. PARTICIPATION OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES IN MANAGEMENT (PREM) As a first step towards labour participation in the Management, the Railway Ministry had constituted Corporate Enterprise Group (CEG) of Management in the year 1972, which consisted leaders of NFIR and AIRF. Through this CEG, the labour organizations were given the opportunity to highlight their view points on the working and also suggest measures needed to be taken for improving the efficiency of the Railways.  The Corporate Enterprise Groups (CEG) at Railway Board, Zonal and Divisional levels was restructured during the year 1994 as Participation of Railway Employees in Management (PREM) to facili­tate meaningful and effective participation of workers in the management process. Further, to make the working of PREM more purpose­ful, a separate cell headed by a Joint Secretary has been set up under the direct control of Secretary, Railway Board. The Joint Secretary shall assist the Secretary in convening the meetings of the Group periodically and monitor the implementation of various deci­sions taken. He will also monitor the working of PREM at the Zonal and Divisional levels. 

27. Shri C. K. JafferSharief , then Minister for Railways had also addressed a letter on 24th June, 1995 to the then Prime Minister of India, Shri P.V. NarisimhaRao highlighting the decision taken by him for participation of Railway employees in PREM. This, he felt was a Government's commitment to usher in an era of participative management to involve workers in the decision making and the implementation process for a meaningful and collective endeavour . The salient points from his letter are given below:- 1. Following the assurance of P.M. to the August House, the Ministry of Railways have taken the initiative to involve workers in important deliberations at various levels so as to make them feel involved in the task of providing an efficient rail transport service.  

28. 2.    For the first time in the history of Indian Railways the top leaders of the two workers' Federations of Railways also participated in the meeting along with Minister for Rail ­ ways, the Railway Board and the General Managers on 1st May, 1995 i.e., the MAY DAY in New Delhi. Hitherto, there was no opportunity for the workers to contribute meaningfully to improve the running of the railways sys ­ tem and delivery of better services, except on matters like staff relating to duty hours, housing, redressal of griev ­ ances, service conditions etc., as the agenda for such meetings was very limited in scope besides being one sided. Thus an important beginning was made in the direction of involving employees in the management of Railways.

29. The restructuring of Corporate Enterprise Groups as PREM groups expanding the scope of agenda to enable the workers express their views on issues pertaining to the day-to-day running of the system and enable them sug ­ gest means of improving the system, as spelt out in the Budget Speech of. 1994-95, has been well received by the workers. 4.   As per the announcement made in Rail Budget 1995-96, the workers' participation in management at apex level is a step further, for greater transparency in important matters of railway working. These enabled labour unions feel more of a partner in the march towards achieving Indian Railways' corporate objective of higher productivity with cost reduction.

30. The NFIR is with the Administration with regard to safety measures. The Federation stressed the need for educating the grass root level workers about the rules. It also has emphasized the necessity of publishing the rules in simplified form not only in English and Hindi, but also in regional languages. Thus, the rank and file of the lowest level can be kept well informed about the simplified rules and procedures of the system. The NFIR also desires that the status of the members of PREM is well defined and clearly explained, not that they are enamored of status. Since, the Federation is functioning like a responsible co-partner in running the system, it also should be given due importance and dignified status.

31. At the apex level the meetings of PREM were held, by and large, regularly by the Railway Board. In the General Managers' Conferences and CPOs' Conferences, the General Secretary, NFIR has been participating and availing these for a in projecting important points. The highlights of discussions from these conferences are appraised to the affiliated unions and also published in the monthly journal "Indian Rail Worker". However, the meetings are not being held regularly on some Zonal Railways at GMs' and DRMs' level. The Federation has time and again brought this situation to the notice of Railway Board. Although necessary instructions for the purpose have been issued from time to time by the Railway Board to the Zonal Railways to hold these meetings regularly with the participation of General Secretary and Divisional Secretary, there has been no much improvement in the position.