ISLAMABAD Sept 23: Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Owais Ghani said on Monday that the new labour policy was based on bilateralism which would cut the role of government to the minimal providing a mutual platform to the employees and employers.

Speaking at a news conference here, the minister said that under the new policy the right/option of strike had been minimised by giving two chances of conciliation between employees and employer, because “the environment of mutual antagonism and mistrust has adversely affected investment, business profitability and growth.”

Approval of the policy after around 30 years was aimed at giving relief to the working class whose leadership was anxious for its implementation.

When asked about the reason of allowing non-workers of a concern to become office-bearers of a union, he said it was a part of the old law.

He told the newsmen that the tenure of a trade union had been increased to three years and the minimum wages would be compulsorily revised by the government after every three years. He admitted that the minimum wages fixed at Rs2,500 per month did not accord with the present-day cost of living.

Some salient features of the new policy, he said, were rationalisation and consolidation of some 36 labour laws into six laws: Industrial Relations Ordinance, Conditions of Employment Ordinance, Wage Ordinance, Human Resource Development Ordinance, Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, and Labour Welfare and Social Protection Ordinance.

The minister told the newsmen that the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO) was almost ready and might be promulgated before the elections.

Under the IRO, he said, a tripartite board would be formed to conciliate in the industrial disputes where more than one establishment were involved or industry-wise trade union or a trade union at the national level was a party.

On failure of conciliation, the dispute would be referred to a board of arbitrators. The phrase “notice of conciliation shall be substituted to replace the notice of strike or lockout”.

The labour judiciary would be upgraded and strengthened by abolishing labour appellate tribunals to give right of appeal in high courts, he said.

He also said that the consolidated law relating to conditions of employment would be made applicable to every industrial and commercial establishment employing 10 or more workers.

The minister said maximum working hours were part of the law, but it needed to be implemented where it was violated by certain business concerns.

He was told that a large number of contractual workers including the private security agencies personnel were asked to work for more than 12 hours for only Rs2,500 per month.