There are few writers in the field of labour or industrial relations in Pakistan. Although this field encompasses all the industrial and commercial establishments operating within the country, there is certainly a dearth of people capable of penning down their own exposure to industrial relations for the education and insight of others, especially new entrants in the arena. Such literature can not only provide guidance to the existing incumbents, but may also be of value to those trying to choose a career for themselves.

The recent book Islami Mazdoor Tehreek ki Safar Kahani by Professor Shafi Malik is an unusual narration of events comprising his own experience of joining the labour movement in the formative years of the country. Thereafter the writer played a long and enviable role in not only successfully leading the National Labour Federation (NLF), but also setting up high and difficult standards of integrity for his successors to follow.

Malik was president of the NLF during 1969-71, secretary general from 1971-1982, and again president until August 2000, when he himself opted to quit. The NLF is associated with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

The key to Malik’s success lies in his education, intellect, temperament, and problem-solving abilities. The challenges thrown upon him looked stupendous, but he had the acumen to achieve his goals most of the time. Malik would bring those laurels for the JI, which the latter could not achieve in politics.

An account of the development and growth of workers’ unions in Pakistan

There were 147 trade unions in Pakistan in August 1947, which increased to 691 by June 1961. The JI had formed the Labour Welfare Committee Pakistan in 1949, which would help in getting individual grievances of government officials resolved. Due to the setting up of industries and the consequential increase in the number of trade unions, the JI decided to form the Labour Federation of Pakistan in 1957. This federation continued to function until August 1960, but the martial law regime which took over in October 1958 made its survival difficult by arresting its leaders. As a result there was no activity in the labour field till the formation of the NLF in 1969.

Malik was an educationist-turned-trade unionist. His grooming as a labour leader started upon becoming president of the Cement Labour Association, Hyderabad, in April 1957. In the first instance he managed to get the status of his union recognised as a representative body of the factory’s labour by the management of the Zeal Pak Cement factory at Hyderabad, and also got workers’ issues resolved amicably by them. Similarly, he helped the Indus Glass factory union in getting the workers’ genuine demands met by the management.

Since Independence, the labour movement was dominated by federations and labour associations that wanted to establish a socialist society in Pakistan. Labour leaders would often quote the sayings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin in their addresses to workers and would also distribute communist literature among them. The unions within the fold of the All Pakistan Confederation of Labour (APCOL), and the Pakistan Railways Workers Union led by Mirza Ibrahim (considered to be the uncrowned king of the labour movement) would receive financial assistance from the Soviet Union for promoting the cause of communism. Ibrahim enjoyed this position for over 30 years when, in a referendum held in May 1982, his union was defeated by the union affiliated with the NLF.

The prime objective of the NLF was to break the dominance of leftist labour federations and unions and replace them with the rightist associations having belief in the JI’s ideology. The JI could not find a more suitable person than Malik to fulfil this goal. He had to relocate from Hyderabad to Karachi in 1969, and immediately started working on his given agenda. Consequently the NLF met with immediate success when, in December 1969, its Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Employees Union (PIACEU) achieved a landslide victory in the referendum in national airlines. Incidentally, it was also the first ever referendum in the country’s history of labour movements.

This was followed by more successes for the NLF in referendums held during 1970 in KDA, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), and Pracha Textile Mills respectively. Later, unions affiliated with the NLF proceeded to win the referendums at Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC), Karachi Shipyard, KDA, and Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO) at Lahore, etc. A referendum is held under the law in order to determine the representative union of workers, called the Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) union, when there are two or more unions in an organisation. A CBA possesses vast powers to negotiate the terms and conditions of workers’ employment with their management and reach agreements and nominate its representatives in various statutory forums.

Despite his rightist leanings, the government nominated Malik and another labour leader to represent the country in the May Day celebrations held in Moscow in 1971. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto assumed power, he exhibited a strong preference in having leftist labour federations and unions in the country; therefore, according to the author, he did not like the existence of a rightist CBA union in a prestigious government organisation such as PIA. Bhutto directed the airlines’ management to make efforts to overthrow the PIACEU.

The union lost the second referendum held in PIA by a narrow margin, but thereafter in two years’ time the union achieved a formidable position, and in March 1974 won the third referendum with convenience. The fourth referendum was scheduled for April 1976, but sensing trouble the management of PIA had it postponed. When this referendum was held in February 1978, PIACEU defeated its rival Airways Union by a huge margin. By that time Bhutto’s government had been toppled by Gen Ziaul Haq, who was inclined towards the rightist groups.

Gen Zia called Malik to Islamabad and offered him a place in his cabinet as labour minister, which the latter declined. Nevertheless, Gen Zia had a soft corner for the NLF and its leader, and would always take Malik’s oral or written suggestions seriously, keeping them in mind while deciding labour matters. It is ironic that his regime imposed a ban on trade union activities in PIA in August 1981.

Expressing his views about the successive political and martial law regimes since 1947, the author states that the nascent country’s first tripartite labour conference was held in February 1949, which was inaugurated by the then-prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Subsequently the government ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The purpose of the first labour policy, announced in 1955, was simply to endorse the labour laws inherited at the time of Independence. With the setting up of industries during Field Marshal Ayub Khan’s martial law government, there was an increase in the number of trade unions and their membership, but freedom of association and collective bargaining did not exist. However, four labour laws having welfare orientation for workers were promulgated during this period.

The short regime of Gen Yahya Khan (March 1969 to December 1971) is considered to be the golden period of trade unionism, the credit for which goes to Air Marshal Nur Khan, who advised Gen Yahya on labour matters. Although Bhutto’s government took keen interest in workers’ welfare and enacted some labour laws to that effect, surprisingly no ILO Convention was ratified during his period. Neither did Gen Zia’s government ratify any convention nor did any worthwhile labour legislation in his 11 years of rule.

In 2002, Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government carried out substantial amendments to the Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969, which had to face severe criticism from labour leaders. Consequently those amendments had to be retracted by the PPP government in 2008. Malik considers the devolution of labour laws to provinces, done through the 18th Amendment in 2010, as extreme injustice to workers. According to him, the federal government has so far ratified 33 ILO Conventions. The responsibility to ensure compliance with the labour laws framed under these conventions rests with the federal government, not the provinces.

Malik believes that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif may tolerate the grant of some concessions to the workers, but does not tolerate the existence of trade unions. He has also discussed his contemporary federation leaders who were a force to reckon with, especially during Bhutto’s regime. While it would have been beneficial if he had also mentioned the highly volatile labour situation prevailing in the industrial areas of Lahore at that time and the labour leaders responsible for it, the book is an interesting read and provides a detailed account of Pakistan’s labour situation from the perspective of a wise and thoughtful leader of a highly successful federation.

The reviewer is a consultant in the human resources department of the Aga Khan University.

Islami Mazdoor Tehreek ki Safar Kahani
(SOCIOLOGY)
By Professor Shafi Malik
Manshurat, Pakistan
ISBN: 978-9696332961
464pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 15th, 2017