The mandate of giving a notice of six weeks as provided under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is/are applicable to which of the following categories of people ? 1. Workmen employed in public utility service, before going for a strike 2. Employers carrying out public utility service, before declaring lock-out 3. Workmen employed in any service, before going for a strike Select the answer using the codes given below :

Correct — C, (c) 1 and 2. The six-week notice belongs to section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and section 22 applies only to public utility services — but within them it binds BOTH sides.

Section 22(1): 'No person employed in a public utility service shall go on strike in breach of contract — (a) without giving to the employer notice of strike, as hereinafter provided, within six weeks before striking; or (b) within fourteen days of giving such notice; or (c) before the expiry of the date of strike specified in any such notice as aforesaid; or (d) during the pendency of any conciliation proceedings before a conciliation officer and seven days after the conclusion of such proceedings.'

Section 22(2) is its mirror image: 'No employer carrying on any public utility service shall lock-out any of his workmen — (a) without giving them notice of lock-out as hereinafter provided, within six weeks before locking out; or (b) within fourteen days of giving such notice; …' and so on through the same four limbs.

Now the three entries.

Entry 1 — workmen employed in a public utility service, before going for a strike. CORRECT. This is section 22(1)(a) exactly.

Entry 2 — employers carrying out public utility service, before declaring lock-out. CORRECT. This is section 22(2)(a) exactly. The Act is deliberately symmetrical here: the mischief it addresses is the sudden interruption of an essential service, and a lock-out interrupts it as surely as a strike does.

Entry 3 — workmen employed in ANY service, before going for a strike. INCORRECT. Section 22 opens with 'No person employed in a public utility service', so the notice requirement does not extend to industrial establishments generally. Workmen outside a public utility service are governed by section 23, which prohibits a strike during the pendency of conciliation proceedings before a Board and seven days after, during proceedings before a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal and two months after, during arbitration proceedings under section 10A(3A) and two months after, and during any period in which a settlement or award is in operation on matters it covers. Section 23 imposes no advance-notice period at all; it forbids strikes at particular times.

Entries 1 and 2 correct, entry 3 too wide — option (c).

One caution about the six weeks. The section says the notice must be given WITHIN six weeks before striking, so six weeks is an outer limit on how stale the notice may be, not a waiting period. The waiting period is the fourteen days in clause (b). A notice given two months in advance is spent; a strike begun the day after notice is unlawful.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)3 only — This accepts only entry 3, the widest of the three, and rejects the two that are actually in the section. Entry 3 fails because section 22(1) opens with the words 'No person employed in a public utility service', which limits the whole of the notice regime to that class. A workman in an ordinary industrial establishment may strike without any advance notice under this Act, subject only to the timing prohibitions in section 23 and to whatever his contract or standing orders require. Choosing this option means reading a notice requirement into every workplace, which is the position the Act deliberately did not take — the six-week and fourteen-day machinery is the price of working in a service whose interruption injures the public.
• (b)2 only — This accepts only the employer's obligation and rejects the workmen's, which reverses the more familiar half of the section. Section 22(1) is the first sub-section and the one usually quoted: no person employed in a public utility service shall go on strike without giving notice of strike within six weeks before striking. Entry 1 reproduces it. The likely reasoning behind this option is that a notice requirement must be a restriction on labour alone; the Act is expressly even-handed, and section 22(6) reinforces the symmetry by requiring an employer who receives a strike notice or gives a lock-out notice to report the number of such notices to the appropriate Government within five days.
• (d)1 only — This accepts entry 1 alone and drops the employer's obligation in entry 2, which is section 22(2)(a) in terms: no employer carrying on any public utility service shall lock out any of his workmen without giving them notice of lock-out within six weeks before locking out. The four limbs of section 22(2) match the four limbs of section 22(1) clause for clause — six weeks, fourteen days, the specified date, and the pendency of conciliation plus seven days. Section 22(3) then treats both alike by dispensing with notice where a strike or lock-out is already in existence. A candidate who selects this option has the right reading of entry 3 but has read only half of section 22.

The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 does not ban strikes and lock-outs; it channels them. Section 22 applies to public utility services and imposes advance notice on both sides: notice of strike or lock-out must be given within six weeks before the action, the action may not begin within fourteen days of the notice, nor before the date specified in it, nor during conciliation proceedings before a conciliation officer and for seven days after they end. Section 22(3) waives notice where a strike or lock-out is already running, requiring instead an intimation to the specified authority on the day it is declared; section 22(4) and (5) leave the manner of giving notice to the rules; section 22(6) makes the employer report notices received or given to the appropriate Government within five days. Section 23 then covers every industrial establishment, public utility or not, and works by prohibited periods rather than notice: no strike or lock-out during conciliation before a Board and seven days after, during proceedings before a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal and two months after, during arbitration under section 10A(3A) and two months after, or while a settlement or award is in operation on the matters it covers. Section 24 makes a strike or lock-out illegal if it contravenes section 22 or section 23, and sections 26 to 28 penalise illegal strikes, illegal lock-outs and the instigation or financing of them. The structure to carry away is a two-tier one: universal timing restrictions for everybody under section 23, plus a notice regime that binds only public utility services under section 22.

Key facts

• Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, section 22(1)(a) — no person employed in a public utility service shall go on strike in breach of contract without giving the employer notice of strike within six weeks before striking.
• Section 22(2)(a) — no employer carrying on any public utility service shall lock out his workmen without giving them notice of lock-out within six weeks before locking out.
• Both sub-sections also bar action within fourteen days of the notice, before the date specified in it, and during conciliation before a conciliation officer and seven days after.
• Section 22 applies only to public utility services; there is no general six-week notice for strikes in other establishments.
• Section 22(3) — no notice is necessary where a strike or lock-out is already in existence, but intimation must be sent to the specified authority on the day it is declared.
• Section 22(6) — an employer receiving or giving such notices must report the number to the appropriate Government within five days.
• Section 23 applies to every industrial establishment and prohibits strikes and lock-outs during conciliation before a Board and seven days after, during proceedings before a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal and two months after, during arbitration under section 10A(3A) and two months after, and while a settlement or award is in operation on the matters covered.
• Section 24 — a strike or lock-out in contravention of section 22 or section 23 is illegal.
• The six weeks is an outer limit on the age of the notice, not a waiting period; the waiting period is fourteen days.

Common traps

• Extending section 22 to every establishment. It binds only public utility services; section 23 covers the rest, and by prohibited periods rather than notice.
• Reading the notice regime as one-sided. Employers declaring a lock-out in a public utility service are bound in identical terms.
• Treating six weeks as a waiting period. It is the maximum age of the notice; the waiting period is fourteen days.
• Navigating the option ladder by position. The options here are printed out of ascending order.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, a strike in a public utility service may not be commenced :

  • (a)Within seven days of giving notice of strike
  • (b)Within fourteen days of giving notice of strike
  • (c)Within six weeks of giving notice of strike
  • (d)Within two months of giving notice of strike

  Answer(b) Within fourteen days of giving notice of strike

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The prohibition on strikes and lock-outs during the pendency of proceedings before a Labour Court or Tribunal, and for two months after their conclusion, is contained in :

  • (a)Section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
  • (b)Section 23 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
  • (c)Section 25 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
  • (d)Section 33 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

  Answer(b) Section 23 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947