HYDERABAD, July 2: The National Labour Federation (NLF) has demanded that the prime minister should withdraw what it called anti-workers clauses of the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2002.

This demand was made at a meeting of the Sindh executive committee of the NLF, held here on Tuesday.

Terming the ordinance a conspiracy against trade unions, the meeting observed that following the general election, President Gen Pervez Musharraf promulgated the IRO, 2002, by misusing his powers. It said the ordinance was enforced without approval from any forum.

The meeting regretted that the law drafted by the late former labour minister, Umer Asghar Khan, in consultation with employers and employees was ignored and the IRO, 2002, was promulgated disregarding previous recommendations. It said proposals of only an influential group of capitalists, which was close to the president, were considered. At the insistence of this group, some clauses were inserted in the IRO, 2002, which were in favour of employers only, it added.

The meeting maintained that labour federations and workers were protesting against the 2002 IRO and even the International Labour Organisation had called for an explanation on this law.

It criticized the government for not taking notice of reservations of workers regarding the ordinance. It hailed the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for including the 2002 IRO in their objections against the Legal Framework Order.

The meeting called upon the prime minister to withdraw the ordinance, accept proposals of workers and remove Federal Labour Minister Abdus Sattar Laleka for he was inefficient.