This is an application under section 50 of the Industrial Relations ordinance, 1969, (hereinafter called the Ordinance), for interpretation of a settlement arrived at between the Mehran Sugar Mills Labour Union and Mehran Sugar Mills Limited on 26th January 1971. One of the terms that requires interpretation, according to the Applicant, is as under:- "The wages of all the Industrial workers of the Mills excluding unskilled workers will be paid as follows:
2. The difficulty and doubt has arisen as to whether Industrial Workers would include Clerical Staff or not. Mr. Latif, the learned Representative for the Mills, contended that the intention of the parties was to exclude Clerical Stag from the term "Industrial Workers." That this is so, Mr. Latif contends, is clear from Demand No. 1, which reads as under: "Payment of Interim Relief to all employees of Mehran Sugar Mills, Tando Allahyar, including clerical staff should be paid."
3. Mr. Latif contends that had the intention of the parties been to include Clerical Staff, it would have been so mentioned in the settlement. There is no force in this contention. On the other hand, if the intention of the parties was to exclude Clerical Staff, it would have been mentioned to the term of settlement, as it was stated in case of unskilled workers. Unskilled workers were as much Industrial workers and skilled workers, but as the parties wanted to exclude them they were excluded.
Similarly, the definition of workman covers the Clerical Staff. If the intention of the parties was to exclude them, it would have been specifically mentioned in the settlement.
4. In the second place, Mr. Latif contended that if the Mills had agreed make payment to the Clerical Staff, the Union would not have again repeated their demand in their notice, under section 26 of the Ordinance, dated 11th January, 1972. There is not much force in this contention. On 24th January 1972, a settlement was arrived at between the parties under which the Mills consented to consider the payment of Interim Relief in accordance with the agreement dated 16th January 1971.
The very fact that the Mills agreed to consider the demand of the Union in respect of payment of the wages in accordance with the settlement of 26th January 1971, would prove that there was justification in the demand of the Union to claim payment for the Clerical Staff in accordance with the settlement dated 26th January 1971.
5. In the third place, Mr. Latif contended that the Union had made an application under section 50 of the Ordinance for interpretation of the same term of settlement, but had withdrawn it. It is true, the application had been withdrawn by the Union on 17th August 1972, for no apparent reason.
However, as the application was not disposed of on merit, the mere fact that the Union under some wrong advice withdrew the application, 1 would not disentitle it to make a fresh application.
6. Lastly, it was contended by Mr. Latif, that the term "worker" as used in the settlement should be interpreted to mean as defined in the Fac--tories Act of 1934. It is true the term "worker" as defined in the Factories Act does not include a person "employed in clerical capacity in any room or place where no manufacturing process is being carried". The definition of worker in Factories Act is only for the purposes of the Factories Act. So far as the term "worker" as used in the settlement is concerned, it has to be taken to have the same meaning as under the Ordinance. The settlement arrived at between the parties is the result of a notice under section 26 of the g Ordinance. I would hold that the worker has the same meaning as defined under the Ordinance.
7. Although I have considered the contention of Mr. Latif, while interpreting the demand, it is a well- settled rule of interpretation of any statute that the Court has to gather the intention of the parties from the language used in a document sought to be interpreted. It has not to go by any extraneous circumstance. Industrial workers to my mind would include C also the Clerical Staff of the Mills.
Clerical Staff people are as much workers, of an industrial concern as any skilled worker.