ORDER The National Bank of Pakistan Staff Union (hereinafter referrod to at "the applicant") has filed an application under section Relations Ordinance, 1969) (hereinafter referred to as "the Ordinance"), for determination of the entire establishment of the National Bank of Pakistan as one collective bargaining unit. The applicant has also filed another application requesting for stay of the proposed referendum which is to be held by the Commission for determination of a collective bargaining agent at the national level and for which proceedings under section 22 of the Ordinance are in progress.
2. The reason mentioned by the applicant in his application under section 22-EE of the Ordinance mainly is, that some Trade Unions are already functioning as collective bargaining agents for the establishments of the National Bank of Pakistan at Karachi and Lahore and, therefore, the proposed referendum to be held by the Commission would serve little purpose unless the entire establishment of the said bank throughout Pakistan is declared as a single collective bargaining unit.
3. As by this order I propose only to dispose of the stay application filed by the applicant, objections were invited only from those parties who were to be directly affected by this order. Only one of them, namely National Bank of Pakistan People's Federation which is one of the contesting parties at the proposed referendum has filed its objection before the Commission.
4. At this stage the only point to be determined is whether the proposed determination of the collective bargaining agent by the Commission is likely to be affected by its final decision on the application under section 22-EE as according to the second proviso to section 22-fcE (1 j(c), after receipt of a reference for determination of a collective bargaining unit the Commission can stop or prohibit the proceedings for determination of the collective bargaining agent under section 22 for any establishment or group of establishments in case the same is likely to be affected by the Commission's decision under section 22-EE regarding the determination of the collective bargaining unit.
5. According to section 22-EE (1) (a) of the Ordinance, the Commission can determine or certify one or more collective bargaining units of workmen in an establishment or group of establishments, having regard to the distribution of workers, existing boundaries of the components of such establishment or group facilities of communication, general convenience, sameness or similarity of economic activity and other cognate factors. According to clause (6) of the same section and subsection, the Commission can, consequent upon the decision taken under clause (a), specify some modifications in regard to the registration of the Trade Unions and Federations of Trade LTnions or collective bargaining agent, among such Unions or Federations affected by the Commission's decisions (see section 22-EE of the Ordinance).
Section 22-EE(3) further lays down that "after the certification of a collective bargaining unit, no Trade Union shall be registered in respect of that unit except for the whole of such unit and no certification or proceedings for determi-| nation of collective bargaining agent under section 22 shall take! place for a part of a collective bargaining unit or a group of collective bar-1 gaining units".
6. Section 22-EE (3) therefore envisages a complete change from the existing scheme as under the latter, a collective bargaining agent can be determined both at national as welt as at the provincial, distiict or local level. But under subsection (3) of section 22-EE, in case the entire establishment of the said Bank is declared as a single collective bargaining unit, there can be only one collective bargaining agent to represent all the workers be determined either at the provincial, district or local levels. Such a modification in respect of collective bargaining agents is bound to require further modifications in the registration of the Trade Unions, such as, complete reorga nization of the existing Trade Unions, the transformation of some of the Trade Union at the provincial, district or local levels into the ones at the national level, the emergence of some new Trade Unions, and other like changes, as according to the affidavits filed by the parties there are various registered Trade Unions in the different establishments of the said Bank at the provincial district and local levels, besides the five Unions at the national level, some of which are also functioning as collective bargaining agents for those units.
7. Consequently, the collective bargaining agent at the national level,l if determined at this stage, is bound to be affected by the modifications, as|0 discussed above. I 8. Moreover, I also find a good prima facie case in favour of the applicant as the field of bargaining of the various collective bargaining agents representing the various units at the national, provincial or local levels has not been defined by the Ordinance.
This is bound to result into confusion for the collective bargaining agents concerned as well as the Management of the Bank.
9. The balance of convenience is also on the side of the applicant, as the determination of a collective bargaining agent at this stage may virtually render the application under section 22-EE infructuous, as according to the second proviso to section 22-EE (1) (c), in case a collective bargaining ^ agent is declared under section 22 of the Ordinance, the modifications, if any, proposed by the Commission under clause (b) of the said section and subsection, cannot become effective until the expiry of a peiiod of two years as specified under subsection (10) of section 22 of the Ordinance.
10. After taking all these factors into consideration, I find it a fit case for grant of stay.
11. I accordingly stay further proceedings pending before the Commission in respect of the proposed referendum till a final decision is taken on the application under section 22-EE.
Pronounced before the parties present. revisions by the competent authorities. Therefore, it is advisable to consult the official sources or legal professionals for the most up-to-date and accurate information.