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 :-

Staff can bring questions in  connection with their conditions of service to the notice of the administration;

Matters of common interest connected with working of the undertaking may  be discussed with a view to improving efficiency; and

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.   

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.

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.

(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.

Eligibility for election—All non-gazetted staff excluding apprentices with more than three years’ continuous service will be eligible for election to staff Councils.      

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. 

Meetings.- Meeting of staff  Councils shall not be held more often than  once every two months or less often than once every four months. 

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. 

The quorum for all Council meetings will be one-third of the total number of members. 

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.

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).

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.

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.

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. 

(Authority Railway Board letter No. E(LR)I/93/NM1-1 dated 26.2.1993) 

SECTION II

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.

(i)

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.

(ii)

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.

 (iii)

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.

2616.

The following detailed procedure is laid down for the working of the machinery referred to above:--

 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. 

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.

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.

At the district or divisional and railway levels, subject will comprise of those which are within the powers of the officers concerned.

Question concerning pay scales, allowances, etc., will only be discussed between the Federation and the Railway Board and not at lower level.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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-

(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.