Take the case of Philips Employees Union, for example. The unions bid to buy out the colour television unit of Philips India at Salt Lake in Calcutta for Rs 10 crore was an interesting case where the management was forced to be accountable before axing jobs and shutting down facilities. Philips India had decided to sell the factory to Kitchen Appliances Ltd, a subsidiary of Videocon, for a paltry Rs 9 crore.

In a bid to spike the deal completely, the union filed a case against the company's plans in the Calcutta high court and got an interim stay on the sale. Theunion alleged that the sale would be detrimental to the interest of shareholders and employees. A hearing on the matter is now slated for February 13.

The voluntary retirement package, the route used by companies to downsize employees, was redefined by the Mumbai high court. The court made it mandatory for all companies to give a 21-day notice before launching a voluntary retirement scheme as it results in change in service conditions of the employees. This order of April 17, 1998, was in response to two separate petitions made by the Kamani employees' union and the Bluestar employees' union.

But this verdict was challenged by the management and justice Srikrishna ruled that a higher court cannot take up a case until and unless the case is finally disposed of by the industrial court where the petitions were filed.

Another highlight of the year was the interim stay on the employees pension scheme of 1995 by the Supreme Court. It was again the Philips union which spearheaded the opposition to the schemealong with over 20 recognised unions from all over India.

As an interim measure, the employer's contribution to the provident fund is now being diverted to the employees fund and not the government's non-refundable pension fund. The final hearing in the Supreme Court has been fixed for February 9, 1999.

There were other instances when the courts intervened to redefine unfair labour practices. The Mumbai high court termed the two lockouts at the Modistone factory at Sewri and the Rallifan factory as "illegal".

The fall in prices of petrochemical products had catastrophic effects on domestic industry. Oswal Petrochemicals and Rama Petrochemicals declared lockouts using unruly labour unions as a pretext for closing shop. Oswal tried to rehabilitate some of the officers by transferring 17 of them to the sugar mill at Phagwara in Punjab, while at Rama Petrochemicals there is cold uncertainty about the future of the plant.

For employees in public sector undertakings, the year began on a positive note with asafety net for retrenched workers. The industry ministry was structuring a VRS fund to enable sick units to offer attractive severance options to their redundant employees.