HYDERABAD, Nov 21: Trade unions, rejecting the Industrial Relations Act 2008, approved recently by the two houses of parliament, termed it anti-worker black law. They said that some clauses of the Act were even worse than the IRO-2002 promulgated by the army dictator.

President, Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (CBA), Abdul Latif Nizamani rebuffed the IRA saying that it was an anti-worker black law and called upon the sympathizers to condemn it.

He said this during a meeting held on Friday with the office bearers and workers.

Mr Nizamani, who is also General Secretary of Pakistan Workers Federation, Interior Sindh Chapter said that the government claimed itself to be democratic and its leaders during election campaign promised of repealing undemocratic and black laws.

It was an irony that the same leaders were now enacting undemocratic and anti-labour laws and instead of eliminating poverty were wiping out poor people, he said.

He pointed out that it was alarming to learn people, out of hunger and unemployment, were committing suicides and even selling their children.

He demanded of the government to provide the working class their right to live by repealing all anti-labour laws and further warned of launching a protest movement if it was not accepted.

Others who spoke included Provincial General Secretary of the Union, Iqbal Kaimkhani, Malik Sultan, Azam Khan, and Qazi Saleem Anwar.

The Provincial President of the National Labour Federation, Rana Mehmood Ali Khan flayed passing of the IRA without a debate by the National Assembly. In a statement issued on Friday he said that this speaks volumes of the ill-intentions, the government was harbouring.

Regarding the tabling of IRA in Senate, he castigated the government for not taking into confidence the stakeholders. However, leader of the house, Raza Rabbani promised to incorporate 14 amendments proposed by Prof Khursheed Ahmed in the Act, he said.

The government neither incorporated the proposed amendments nor debated every clause as demand by some members but passed it be majority votes, he said.

The trade union leader said that there were 18 clauses not acceptable to workers federation and lamented ignoring even the 14 proposed amendments.

He said that the Workers Employees Bilateral Council of Pakistan (WEBCOP) had rejected the Act in its meeting held in Karachi on November 5, attended by the employers’ representatives and the representatives of different workers federations.

The conference had also demanded discussion on the subject before placing the draft law in the National Assembly, he said.

Some clauses were worse than the IRO-2002 promulgated by President Musharraf he said and added that the Act was a ditto copy of the previous black law.

He demanded that amendments should be introduced in the Act after taking all stakeholders in confidence.