04 January 2004	Sunday	11 Ziqa'ad 1424

LAHORE, Jan 3: The need for creation of an independent labour judicial service was stressed for prompt resolution of industrial disputes at a dialogue on the role of labour judiciary organized by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research.

Participants in the dialogue were of the view that it was necessary to resolve industrial disputes in the shortest possible time as delay resulted in loss of production for employers and loss of wages for workers. Neither conscientious employers nor workers could favour resolution of industrial disputes on the pattern of cases in civil courts.

They said that commissioners for workmen's compensation and payment of wages in the labour department should also be made part of the labour judiciary and elevated as presiding officers of labour courts and National Industrial Relations Commission members on promotion.

They also stressed the need for amending the law for vesting the compensation commissioners with land revenue collectors' powers for the purpose of implementation of their awards. The implementation of awards was delayed inordinately as these were referred to collectors with land revenue recovery powers.

One of the participants pointed out that workmen's compensation amounting to Rs10 million had been awaiting recovery for the past five years in Kasur district only because the compensation commissioners did not possess land revenue collector's powers for enforcement of their awards.

The participants also stressed the need for educating employers about the benefits of prompt adjudication of industrial disputes. They pointed out that a majority of employers turned hostile towards the workers trying to negotiate wages or demanding a raise and tried to victimize them. A majority of industrial managements did not pay group insurance of workers but assisted their families in getting compensation in the event of death.

They said the employers were also averse to payment of compensation to the workers contracting occupational diseases or sustaining injuries due to unhealthy or unsafe environment at workplace. They tried to prolong the compensation proceedings to compel workers to give up their claims or make out-of-court settlements for nominal amounts.

They said that reduction of time for serving a grievance notice from three months to one month and restrictions imposed on labour courts and the NIRC in respect of ordering reinstatement of dismissed workers under the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002 was a great blow to the rights of workers a majority of whom was not aware of technicalities of the law. Only three cases were decided by the commissioner for workmen's compensation and payment of wages in Multan during the past three months due to IRO-2002 conditionalities.

A commissioner pointed out that a large number of workers were contracting occupational diseases but not filling claims against the employers because of ignorance. The NGOs and labour unions should play their role for educating workers and employers about the importance of a safe working environment at places of work.

Industrial Relations Institute Director Saeed Awan, Assistant Directors (Labour Welfare) Khalid Ittat Khan and Zulqarnain Abbas, District Labour Officer (Multan) Chaudhry Muhammad Sadiq, Workmen's Compensation Commissioners Naveed Warraich and Mirza Nasim Baig and the secretary-general of Punjab Mutahida Labour Federation participated in the dialogue.