October 16, 2003	Thursday	Sha'aban 19, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) has submitted two bills and three resolutions to the Senate Secretariat regarding formation of National Finance Commission (NFC) and Council of Common Interests (CCI) and restoration of trade unions in various government departments, sources told Dawn here on Wednesday.

According to the sources, all the bills and resolutions have been sent by party’s parliamentary leader in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani through parliamentary secretary of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Izhar Amrohvi.

Through the first resolution, submitted under Rule 120 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 1988, the PPP senator has demanded formation of the CCI under Article 153 of the Constitution. Through another resolution, Mr Rabbani has called for formation of the NFC, mandatory under Article 160 of the 1973 constitution. Mr Rabbani has also moved a separate resolution demanding restoration of trade union activities in all “organizations, bodies and corporations, particularly Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), Pakistan Railways, Steel Mills, Bata Shoe Factory, Pakistan Security Printing Corporation and Pakistan Security Papers”.

The PPP senator has also submitted two separate bills under Rule 82 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Senate 1988. The first bill is regarding amendment in the Services Tribunal Act 1973 and the other relates to amendment in the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962.

In the first bill, Mr Rabbani has sought deletion of section 2-A in the Services Tribunal Act 1973. As a consequence of this section, “the right of the workers to take their disputes to the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC), labour courts and the high courts has ceased to exist,” he stated in the bill. Moreover, due to adjudication of these matters before the Federal Services Tribunal and an appeal before the Supreme Court the litigation process has been made “cumbersome and expensive” for the workers.

In the bill to amend the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962, the PPP senator has stated that Section 27-B should be deleted as it “violates the spirit and the rights conferred by Article 17 of the 1973 Constitution.”

“It is in violation of the provisions of the ILO to which Pakistan is a signatory. The section is contrary to the provisions of IRO 1969 and the controversial IRO 2002, which allows 25 per cent members of the trade union to be from outside the organization. The report of the Justice Shafiur Rehman Commission also recommended that the said section be deleted.”

It states: “Further the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962 deals with the functions and operations of the banking companies and it does not regulate the functions of the trade unions which are covered under the IRO.