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| September 2, 2002 | Monday | Jamadi-us-Saani23,1423 |
Labour policy more employer-friendly
ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The proposed labour policy, which is ready for enactment, appears to be more employer-friendly than being labour-friendly, since in the ultimate calculation it gives more protection to the employer than the labourer.
According to the draft document of labour policy available with Dawn, the right to strike/ lock-up by the employees which is used as a last resort for acceptance of demands, has been subdued and replaced with “notice of conciliation through tripartite bodies including workers council, management committee and joint management board etc.
Under the new policy, “the federal government will review every three years minimum wages of workers in consultation with the national tripartite minimum wage council.” A national occupational safety and health council will be established to set OSH standards and review them periodically.
However, in case of failure of conciliation proceedings in an industrial dispute in a public utility service, the dispute will be referred for arbitration to a board of arbitrators who would comprise serving or retired judges of a high court or of the Supreme Court.
The labour judicial system will be restructured, simplified and minimised to dispose of cases quickly and effectively to the satisfaction of both the parties. Status of labour court will be upgraded by setting up specific benches in the higher courts.
Institutions responsible for social protection, social insurance and labour welfare would be made fully autonomous by restructuring their respective management boards to ensure adequate labour and employer representation and to strengthen their tripartite character.
The proposed labour policy envisages strengthening bilateralism, elimination of animosity and antagonism by fostering a trust relationship between employer and employee and promoting social dialogue through a workers-employers bilateral council.
Some three dozen labour laws have been consolidated into six broad categories of laws inter alia; law relating to industrial relations ordinance, condition of employment ordinance, wage ordinance, human resource and skill development ordinance, occupational safety and health ordinance and labour welfare and social protection ordinance.
“An environment for growth of healthy and responsible trade unionism will be created by encouraging internal trade union leadership by allowing “time off” to the president and general secretary of a CBA union for its tenure to enable them to better serve and protect workers interests. Effective measures will be introduced to discourage unfair labour practices such as intimidation, threats, coercion etc by the employers and workers.”
In order to ensure effective implementation of labour laws labour administration machine will be provided qualified personnel with necessary training.
To improve the role and contribution of women in the labour force and provide them equal opportunities for employment the work places will be made conducive for women workers and free of discrimination of harassment, and a principle of equal pay for equal work has been adopted with ratification of ILO Convention 100 to promote gender equality.
In an effort to minimise class conflict in education of children, workers welfare funds and education cess funds will be utilized to establish quality educational facilities in all districts of the country for providing free education up to matriculation and intermediate levels to the workers children.
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