KARACHI, April 29: Labour leaders and trade unionists have condemned the new Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO-2002) demanding its immediate withdrawal and introduction of a worker-friendly law in its place.
They were speaking at a meeting organized by Habib Bank Workers Front to highlight the ‘effects of globalization on trade union movements and struggle of working class in Pakistan’ in connection with the May Day.
A Senior labour leader, S.P. Lodhi, told the gathering that the military regime had no legal authority to promulgate the IRO in presence of an elected government. He described the ordinance as ‘an anti-worker law’ and called for a dialogue between labour leaders and the government on a worker-friendly draft legislation to be ratified by the parliament.
A former judge of the Sindh High Court, Rasheed A. Razvi said that though the globalization would cause more harm to developing than others, it was more vigorously opposed by the citizens of developed countries. He called for awareness in workers on the effects of globalization and urged trade unions to play their due role in this regard.
Another senior labour leader, Mohammad Shareef, regretted that the IRO-2002 had deprived the workers of many rights they had been enjoying for many decades.
Habibuddin Junaidi of the host labour organization, emphasized on workers’ unity and said that they would have to undertake a long struggle against the anti-worker laws and for the rights of the working class. He recalled Chicago tragedy about 100 years ago and said that the workers had laid down their lives to force the employers restrict working hours to eight hours a day. He deplored that in many sectors, employees were being made to work for 12 hours.
Ahsanullah Khan of the Workers Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan (WEBCOP) said that UN and ILO Conventions must be adhered to if the country wanted to compete in the international market.
Mohammad Islam said that the days of the trade union militancy had gone and now the workers should keep in mind the ground realities while countering the new challenges.
Saleem Raza observed that under the globalization, the developing countries might be turned into a source of raw material for the industries in developed countries. Cuts in import duties and increase in local taxes are destroying the country’s industry, he pointed out.
Some of the speakers pointed out that more than half-a-million workers had already lost their jobs under downsizing and rightsizing programmes. The uncontrolled rise in unemployment rate had constantly been increasing the number of those resorting to suicides, they said.
They further demanded that all anti-labour laws including relevant amendments to the Civil Servants Act and Banking Companies Ordinance be abolished.
Wirasat Hasnain, Haji Yunus, Wahid Bashir, Shaukat Ali, M. A. K. Azmati, Shahadat Awan advocate, Malik Rafiq Awan, Saeed Ghani, Zahid Awan, Lateef Mughal, Manzoor Badayuni, Manzoor Razi, Shaikh Majeed and Mohammad Ashraf were among others who spoke on the occasion.
