' HSBC Lahore-Islamabad Employees Union has filed this application for its registration as an industry-wise trade union. The union is stated to have been formed on 8th February, 2000. The application in Form 'A' filed by the union was received in this Commission oh 19-2-2000. It was accompanied by three Schedules. Schedule-I gives the names and other particulars of the office- bearers of the applicant union. Schedule-II contains the reference to various provisions of the Constitution of the Union relating to its name and address, the aims and objects for which the Union is formed and other related matters, while Schedule-III mentions the names of the establishment/group of establishments to which the applicant Union relates namely(i) HSBC Limited Karachi (Shaheen Complex, .R. Kiani Road, Karachi) (ii) HSBC Limited Islamabad (Ali Plaza Plot I-E- Jinnah Avenue Blue Area, Islamabad) and (iii) HSBC Limited Lahore (87 Shahrah-e- Quaide-Azam Awari Plaza, Lahore).
' The application was also accompanied by a copy of the notice dated 25-1-2000 for convening meeting of the workers on 7-2-2000 together with a copy of the minutes of the general body meeting held on 7-2-2000 in which the decision to form the applicant Union was taken, Constitution of the Union was adopted, the officer-bearers of the union were elected and the President and General Secretary of the Union were authorised to apply to his Commission for registration of the union. Appended with the application were also the list of the members of the union in Form 'E' as also three copies of the Constitution of the Union. President and General Secretary of the applicant Union also submitted certificates to the following effect alongwith the application:-
(i) That total strength of the employees working or engaged by the establishment of HSBC at Lahore/Islamabad is 73.
(ii) That all the members of the applicant Union fall within the definition of workman.
(iii) That none of the office-bearers of the applicant union was ever convicted under section 61 Of I.R.O., 1969; and
(iv) That the employees of HSBC Islamabad and Lahore are not the members of any other employees Union whatsoever as no other trade union is registered.
2. On examination of the aforementioned documents, the office reported that the applicant has submitted necessary documents required under sections 6, 7(1) and 7-A of I.R.O. Read with Regulation 8(1) of NIRC (Procedure and Function:) Regulations, 1973 and that the indsutry-wise character of the union was reflected from Schedule-III as also from the list of the members of the Union who were posted in Lahore and Islamabad. Notice of this application was accordingly issued to the applicant union as also the management of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and the matter was placed before me on 22-4-2000 when the management of the Bank submitted its written reply stating therein that as announced by the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank on February 15, 2000, the Branches at Lahore and Islamabad shall close down the operations on 30th June, 2000. It was further submitted in the reply that the licences permitting the bank to operate Branches at Lahore and Islamabad "and being surrendered to the State Bank of Pakistan", and all the customers of Lahore and Islamabad Branches have also been intimated about the discontinuance of operations at the said two Branches w,e,f, 30-6-2000. The application for registration of the Union, it was submitted, was a direct consequence of the decision of the management to close down the Branches at Lahore and Islamabad. It was pointed out in the reply that the employees of Lahore and Islamabad have been benefitted from the settlement executed with the. CBA Union at Karachi Head Office and that the current settlement was operative and valid upto March, 2001. A point was thus, mooted in the reply that the Bank has been one Collective Bargaining Unit eversince the inception of its operations in Pakistan but now that its branches in Lahore and Islamabad were being closed down, a separate Collective Bargaining Unit "is sought to be created through the mechanism of the registration of union for Lahore and Islamabad without recourse to section 22-EE when all employees at Lahore and Islamabad have been members of the CBA Union at Karachi till very recently".
3. The applicant union filed a replication/rejoinder to the written reply submitted by the management of the bank contending therein that merely because the management was intending to close down the branches at Lahore and Islamabad w,e,f, 30-6-2000, does not furnish any legal justification for refusing to accord registration to the applicant union. It was pointed out by the applicant union that so far none of the workers employed at Lahore and Islamabad has received any notice from the employer regarding the termination of their employment even w,e,f, 30-6-2000. The applicant produced two letters/memos. Dated 10-3-2000 and 22-4-2000 (Annexure A/1 and A/2 with the replication) wherein the management of the Bank has expressed unconditional willingness to the formation and registration of the Union. As regards the existing union namely HSBC Employees Union, Central Division Karachi, it was contended in the replication that overwhelming majority of the workers employed at Lahore and Islamabad were not its formal members and in any case, the workmen employed at Lahore and Islamabad having formed a union of their own to properly safeguard their rights, the existence of the union at Karachi does not debar the registration of the applicant union.
4. Mr. Naeem Bokhari, learned counsel for the management stated at the Bar that the management has no objection to the registration of the applicant union but he submitted that he being an officer of the Court would like to place the relevant facts and law on the subject before this Court. His precise contention was that HSBC is one establishment and there already exists a union in the establishment namely HSBC Employee Union, Karachi which is functioning as CBA for the whole of the establishment since 1984. According to the learned counsel, all the workers at Lahore and Islamabad branches were the members of the said Union which executed settlements with the management for all the employees in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. In the circumstances, it was argued by the learned counsel that the applicant Union could not be formed/registered for Lahore/Islamabad branches/offices of the bank without first getting these offices/branches declared as a separate CBU under section 22-EE of I.R.O. Submission of the learned counsel was that in industry-wise trade union can be registered for the whole of the establishment and not for the branches of the bank and this submission he sought to support by placing reliance on the following four cases:-
(i) Rice Export Corporation Labour Union v. Full Bench of the NIRC and 6 others (1992 PLC 125 Karachi High Court)
(ii) APP Union of Journalists and 2 others v. Registrar of Industry-wise Trade Union NIRC (1992 PLC 493 Full Bench of NIRC).
(iii) In re: Registration of APP Union of Journalists Rawalpindi Islamabad (1992 PLC 486 Single Member of NIRC).
(iv) In re: Application of Sui Northern Gas Workers Union. (1977 PLC 167 Full Bench of NIRC).
' Learned counsel also reiterated the facts stated in the written reply of the management relating to the closing down of the two branches of the Bank at Lahore and Islamabad with effect from 30-6- 2000 and sought to contend that since the two branches shall cease to function with effect from 30-6-2000, the registration of the applicant Union will only be an exercise in futility. It was pointed out by the learned counsel that some of the employees have informed the bank management on 22-2-2000 that hence forward, monthly subscription for the existing Employees Union, Karachi may not be deducted from their salaries. He referred in this behalf to two lists of such employees already appended with the written reply of the management.
5. Learned counsel appearing for the applicant Union in his submissions reaffirmed the factual and legal position stated in its rejoinder and further submitted that although the membership of the applicant Union was presently confined only to the workmen employed in Lahore and Islamabad branches but sphere of its operation was not restricted to these two branches alone. He pointed out that its membership was open to the entire establishment including the workmen employed in Karachi. To support his submission, learned counsel referred to Article 5 of the Constitution of the Union which provides that "Any worker employed in the establishment of the HSBC can become the member of the Union on making application in the prescribed form to the General Secretary wirh an admission fee of Rs,200".
6. Notice of this application was also issued to the pre-existing Union which is locally registered with the Registrar of Trade Unions, Sindh. General Secretary of this Union submitted written comments in the office through his counsel (Ch. Muhammad Ashraf, Advocate), stating that "in view of the fact brought to the notice of this Union that the applicant Union is for Lahore and Islamabad establishment and neither has any relation with Karachi establishment nor has any affect on the Karachi Union, therefore, the HSBC Employees Union, Karachi has no objection for the registration of the applicant Union as Industry-wise Trade Union for Lahore and Islamabad establishment". Quite evidently, this no-objection is subject to certain reservations regarding the scope and sphere of operation of the applicant Union. Mr. Sher Muhammad, General Secretary of the existing Employees Union has appeared today in person to state that his Union has no objection to the registration of the applicant union as Industry-wise Trade Union as submitted in the written reply/commnets already furnished through his Advocate.
7. On the facts stated hereinabove, the Industry-wise character of the applicant union is clearly established and it is not in dispute that all its members are workmen actually engaged/employed in the establishment with which the applicant Union is connected. It may also be stated that since there is only one registered trade union already existing in the establishment which again is locally registered, provisions of section 7(2)(b) of I.R.O. Are not attracted and the applicant Union is not required to show that its membership is not less than 1/5th of the total number of workmen employed in the establishment. I also find considerable force in the contention of the learned counsel for the applicant Union that even though the membership of the applicant Union is presently confined to the workmen employed in Lahore and Islamabad but its scope and sphere of its operation is not restricted only to these two branches. As provided in Article 5 of the Constitution of the Union, its membership is open to all the workers employed in the whole of establishment of HSBC Limited including its Karachi offices. Not only that, even according to Schedule III to Form 'A', the applicant Union relates to the whole of the establishment of HSBC Limited i,e, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. There can thus be no valid objection to the registration of the applicant Union as Industry-wise Trade Union for the said establishment. Before concluding, I would like to take note of the fact that the management of the HSBC Limited, too, has no objection to the formation/registration of the applicant Union which fact is amply manifest from the two letters dated 10-3-2000 and 22-4-2000 (Annexures All and A/2 with the replication of the applicant Union) as also from the minutes of the Senior Management meeting held on 9-5-2000 which approved the formation of the applicant Union.
' In view of what has been said above, this application is allowed and the applicant Union is hereby registered as lndustry-wise Trade Union of workers employed in the establishment of HSBC Limited.
Office is directed to issue necessary registration certificate to the applicant Union.