M A I N   N E W S

Collective bargaining right of employees, says Sorabjee

New Delhi, August 10
Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee today came out strongly against the Supreme Court ruling on the right to strike, saying its observations that government employees had "no moral or equitable right to go on strike" were "uncalled for" and "beyond comprehension".

He said the right of collective bargaining and ancillary right to strike was an invaluable right of employees. "It was secured after years of toil and effort," he added.

Taking an overall view of the working conditions in India, the Attorney General said "there can be horrendous situations in which the employees have no effective mechanism for redressal of their grievances and are left with no option but to resort to strike."

However, he was in agreement with the view of the court that strikes caused grave inconvenience to the public. He said "no one can dispute that strikes should not be indiscriminate and resorted to for trivial reasons."

"It is also undeniable that strikes cause grave inconvenience to the public and also damage smooth functioning of administration," he told PTI when his views on the recent judgement of the apex court were sought.

Asked about the comments of the court that the government employees did not even have the "moral or equitable right" to go on strike, he said "a court of law is concerned with legal and constitutional issues.”

“The observation that the employees have no moral or equitable right to strike was really uncalled for and is beyond comprehension."

When it was pointed out that the apex court as far back as 1962 had held the employees or trade unions had no fundamental right to go on strike, the Attorney General said workers comprised of a considerable section of the society and the means of redressing their grievances and hardships must also be kept in mind.

"One must not forget that employers can be unreasonable at time and are also insensitive to fair demands of employees," he said.

While agreeing with the apex court’s view that "strike often results in chaos and causes total maladministration", Mr Sorabjee said "but it does not mean that strikes can be absolutely prohibited".

Referring to the apex court judgement virtually banning strikes by lawyers, the Attorney-General said even in the case of lawyers, while deprecating indiscriminate strikes, the court had recognised there could be rare and exceptional situations where a strike for a short duration could be permissible.

Citing one of the situations in which the court had permitted strike by lawyers for a short duration, Mr Sorabjee said when there were measures taken by the government eroding the independence of judiciary, the lawyers could resort to strike. — PTI