"AR

CHAPTER X.
Constitution of New Machinery.
We feel it is wrong in principle for the Railway Member of the
Government of India or the Railway Board which represents the Gov-
ernment to enter into direct discussion of working conditions with repre-
sentatives of the workers until the Agents responsible for the running of
the railways have had an opportunity of a round-table conference with
these representatives. The Indian Railway Conference Association
and the All-India Railwaymen’s Federation are bodies whereby a
Joint Standing Central Board can be formed in the best interests of all
concerned. We therefore recommend the introduction of machinery for
dealing with industrial relations on railways which will provide for the
constitution of a Joint Standing Central Board to which representatives
of the Agents and of the workers should be elected in equal proportions,
Taking existing organisations into account, we recommend that the
representatives of the Agents should be elected by the Indian Railway
Conference Association and those of the workers by the All-India Rail-
waymen’s Federation and that, as far as possible, representatives should
have practical knowledge of railway working. Neither side should have
more than one representative connected with any one railway. The
Chairman and Vice-Chairman should be appointed by and from the
members forming the Central Board, suitable arrangements being made
for the carrying out of secretarial duties. In this connection, we observe
that verbatim reports of the proceedings of the meetings of representatives
of the All-India Railwaymen’s Federation with the Railway Member
and the Railway Board have been printed and published. While
It is necessary for a record to be kept of decisions and of the
more important points emerging from the discussions, there is’ much
to be said against printing and publishing verbatim speeches of
members of a joint conference. We advise that this practice
should not be followed at meetings of the Central Board or of any
other sections of the joint standing machinery. The functions of the
proposed Joint Standing Central Board should be to consider and, where
possible, to effect a settlement of general questions common to all railways
and of matters common to one or more grades of labour, where it has not
been found possible to reach agreement in the Railway Councils of indi-
vidual systems. Such differences would come up automatically before
the Central Board, which would also receive and consider joint references
from Railway Councils. Where a dispute is apprehended on any railway,
if the matter is not capable of settlement by its Railway Council, it
should be referred automatically to the ~ Central Board, it being
agreed that no stoppage of labour either by strike or lock-out should
take place pending consideration by the Central Boaid or, in the event
of failure to reach agreement, pending the decision of the Tribunal to be
set up.
In the event of the Central Board failing to reach agreement,
we recommend that, if either party so desires, the dispute should be re-
ferred to a Tribunal. We suggest that this Tribunal be composed of five
representatives from each side of the Central Board. together with other