Orissa High Court (file picture)

Angul, Aug. 6: In a significant order, Orissa High court has directed central chief labour commissioner and Bhubaneswar-based assistant labour commissioner to conduct elections on the basis of secret ballot for verification of membership of trade unions that are operating in the public sector Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.

Allowing a writ petition by Ramesh Tripathy, the secretary of Mahanadi Koyla Mazdoor Congress, Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mahapatra directed the authorities concerned to conduct the poll within four weeks after notification.

Tripathy, in his writ petition, had sought a direction to the central labour commissioner to take steps for conducting elections on the basis of secret ballot to ascertain the membership of unions or for the purpose of granting recognition to the union that enjoys majority support.

Hailing the court order as a victory of 21,000 workers in the coal company, Tripathy said secret ballot poll would put an end to the “exploitation, oppression by some trade unions on workers in the coal sector”.

The court order for secret ballot to verify the membership of trade unions will have an impact on Coal India Limited, which has so far practised non-ballot selection of trade unions.

In existing practice, a trade union which gets a minimum of 25 per cent of workers’ votes in a coal mine or unit is granted recognition.