KARACHI, Jan 14: Speakers at a conference on Wednesday stressed that both employees and employers were integral parts of the industry and unless both protected each other’s interests, the economy could not progress in a true sense.
They were speaking at a National Industrial Relations Conference, jointly organised by the International Labour Organisation and the Employers Federation of Pakistan.
Former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain regretted that in Pakistan industrialists and businessmen did not hire professional people who no doubt demanded higher salaries but could help enhance the profitability of an organisation manifold.
He said although there was an international economic recession, here the major factors affecting the economy were local and the situation could improve with the introduction of professionalism and investment in human resource development.
Similarly, he said, employees working in a better environment and with better wages gave better productivity. He cited the example of the United States where around three per cent of the population was involved in agriculture but it not only produced enough for its own country but also fed a large population of the rest of the world. On the other hand, he said, in developing countries, larger but unsatisfied labour forces did not produce enough even for local consumption.
Federal labour secretary Asif Hayat said the government planned to organise a tripartite – workers, employers and the government – conference in a few weeks where the three proposed labour-related legislations would be discussed to get input from the stakeholders so that the new laws that were supported by the stakeholders could be formulated.
The ILO’s country director, Donglin Li, said Pakistan was among the 11 Asian countries that had signed major ILO conventions and that he hoped it would soon formulate its local laws in conformity with the international commitments.
New Delhi-based ILO representative Gotabaya Dasanayaka said that workers and employers had to recognise each other’s importance and the workers had to understand that they had to enhance productivity while the employers had to recognise that gains had to be shared. He said it was important that a balance between economic and social issues was maintained.
India-Pakistan Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry chief S. M. Muneer said the cost of inputs was rising and the supply of electricity, gas etc was not regular which was taking its toll on the industry and in turn on the economy. He did not agree with the economic picture presented by Dr Hussain and said if he was running a business, he would not have such a view of the economy, which he said was in bad shape. He stressed that if the issues were not effectively addressed, the IRA might affect the industrial relations.
Fasih Siddiqui presented a comparative analysis of IRO 1969, IRO 2002 and IRA 2008 from the employers’ point of view and welcomed the removal of the provisions under which a union could call for a second audit and under which the employer could be sent to prison. He, however, did not like the removal of “positive clause” under which in the absence of the CBA the management could recognise a registered trade union to perform as the CBA to fill the vacuum in the initial period.
He said that the first and second labour policies were tilted towards employers who had a chance to show maturity and to do social justice to workers, but the opportunity was lost. The third labour policy was tilted towards workers but they also did not show maturity and the era generated a confrontational industrial atmosphere.
Ehsanullah Khan of the Workers Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan, stressing good bilateral relations between workers and employers, said they were the main stakeholders and could better understand each other’s problems.
He said he was not happy with the tripartite system and that the government officials had their own agenda. Citing an example, he said that in 2000 and 2001 workers and employers sat together and jointly sent a set of recommendations to the government, but when the IRO 2002 came, it did not contain various recommendations that had been agreed to by workers and employers.
He also stressed that workers and employers should sit together and prepare their recommendations before going to the government’s tripartite conference to be held next month so that their concerns could be addressed in the new policy and laws.
Sindh labour secretary Allamuddin Bullo regretted that sometimes the government functionaries did not give due priority to the settlement of disputes, which dragged for a long time. And even conflicts sent to the labour courts, set up to resolve issues quickly, sometimes took years to settle.
Trade union leader Shaukat Ali said that a majority of workers had been left out by the government by giving exemptions to different sectors and organisations and the condition of those workers, who did not have any security or support from unions, was worse. He also stressed mutual dialogue to improve the working environment and enhance the trust between the stakeholders. U. R. Usmani, Dr Shahida Sajjad, Shahana Kaukab, Saghir Ahmad, Harris Noorani and others also spoke.