Amongst the various benefits and facilities provided by a progressive industrial organization for its employees, the canteen is one which has the potential of generating frequent troubles for the employer.
Employees specially in the union cadre demand food which is better than what is served in upper middle-class homes. If not tactfully handled, the industrial relations personnel could end up spending most of their time and energy sorting out the issues arising from the workers’ canteen.
When Ittefaq Foundry was nationalized in January 1972, it was renamed the Lahore Engineering and Foundry Limited. Soon thereafter, I joined the company in the industrial relations department. In a company where trade-union activities were totally banned by the management, the workers fully exploited the newly acquired liberty by forming no less than 17 unions.
The workers’ strength increased threefold, to more than 3,000, with a majority of them having no work to do. The company culture changed from all work and no fun to grabbing every opportunity to make easy money. The management of the staff canteen, an activity which was of least importance to the previous owners, became a top priority. The company management employed a full-time canteen manager who ran it in close cooperation with officials of the Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) union. The expense shown was exorbitant and beyond comprehension, and not questioned even by the auditors. I spent around five years in the company and never faced any problems as the canteen continued to be controlled by the CBA union, which would itself handle the workers complaints.
Thereafter, I joined an American multinational company in the rural Sindh which managed its affairs most professionally and exercised proper control over every activity. The workers’ canteen was managed through company-appointed contractors who were hardly allowed by workers to complete their term. The contractors had to manage the canteen within the amount stipulated in their contract, and the menu agreed with the management. They were unable to accede to and afford the extra demands from workers and would abandon the contract in disgust. Most of our time would be spent in tackling canteen problems.
Some petrochemical and fertilizer companies pamper their workers well, incurring a huge cost on catering. Although the lavish food costs the company more than Rs100 per meal, the workers pay just Rs2 to Rs3 for the same. Since the canteens are managed by the company, the workers continue to complain about the quality and standard of food despite heavy expense incurred by their employers.
The system adopted for running the workers’ canteen at a British multinational with manufacturing plants all over the country best suits the local environment. It is economical as well as trouble-free. The company agrees a fixed monthly grant in the settlement with the CBA union, which remains applicable for two years during currency of the settlement. This amount is given to the union to run the canteen which itself handles the workers complaints.
The taste and quality of the food generally served in most industrial canteens is excellent, rarely found even in the best of restaurants. On being invited by the union to have lunch in the staff canteen one day, I could not resist talking to the person who had prepared the food. His name is Aftab Alam Khan and has remained associated with a number of hotels and multinational companies both within and outside Pakistan. Aftab has spent the prime time of his life in PIA, where he got the opportunity to interact with one of the former chairmen, Noor Khan. During this period, he cooked for many local and visiting dignitaries such as Z.A. Bhutto, Shah of Iran and his wife Farah Deeba, etc.
Aftab lost four fingers of his right hand in an unfortunate accident at work in 1979. He is a shining example of a person, who in spite of his handicap, has not let it affect his performance at work.
Amongst the various benefits and facilities provided by a progressive industrial organization for its employees, the canteen is one which has the potential of generating frequent troubles for the employer.
