A labour policy defines the fundamental approach of the government towards industrial relations in the country and provides guidance to the administrative, legislative and judicial actions of the government. Since independence, four labour policies have been announced in 1955, l959, 1969 and 1972.
The labour policies of 1969 and 1972 were generally perceived as being tilted towards labour and as a consequence, issues such as the power to hire and fire, the multiplicity of trade unions and endless litigation between workers and employers bedevilled industrial relations and adversely affected the stakeholders by creating an environment of mutual distrust and hostility.
Over the years, therefore, a need was felt to reform industrial relations by bringing balance and harmony in employer-employee relationship. A number of efforts were made by the successive governments in this direction. Three tripartite labour conferences were held in 1977, 1980 and 1988 and two commissions, namely the Labour Commission of 1978 and the Labour Welfare Commission of 1987, were set up to address the issues. Also, two task forces, one on social security and the other on labour were formed in 1993. However, despite the recommendations of these bodies, no viable consensus could be evolved amongst workers and employers on key labour issues.
In recent years, there has been an increased realization on the part of the workers, employers and the government that without a stable co-operative relationship among all the stakeholders, the attainment of economic growth and development based on higher productivity and efficiency would remain only a dream.
A significant development that took place in this context was the holding of the 24th Pakistan Tripartite Labour Conference on July 30-31, 2001, after a lapse of 13 years, which culminated into useful recommendations to meet the emerging challenges of the competitive global environment.
The challenge, however, lays in a viable design of the policy that ensures a harmonious working relationship between labour and employers for promoting productivity, competitiveness and growth of industry. After an extensive tripartite dialogue and consultation, conducted over many months, a consensus was evolved regarding the future shape and course of industrial relations in Pakistan. In the light of this consensus, the Labour Policy 2002 was developed and was approved by the Cabinet on September 21, 2002.
The vision for the Labour Policy 2002 focuses on the dignity of labour, strengthening of bilateralism, fostering a trust-relationship between employer and employee and promotion of social dialogue. This vision is based on the premise that both industrial growth and decent working conditions can only be achieved through harmonious industrial relations, which are based on awareness and understanding between workers and employers of their reciprocal rights and obligations with all-round commitment to higher productivity.
The Labour Policy 2002 is anchored in the rights-based framework of the Constitution of Pakistan and International Labour Standards as enunciated by the ILO Conventions ratified by Pakistan and contains a plan of action based on the policy principles, aims and objectives.
The policy highlights bilateralism, promotion of healthy trade unionism, strengthening of social dialogue mechanism, consolidation, simplification and rationalization of labour laws, extension in the social safety net, occupational safety and health measures, human resource development and elimination of child labour, bonded labour and gender discrimination.
The bulk of new employment in recent years, particularly in developing and transition countries, has been in the informal economy. Most people have been seeking work in the informal economy because they cannot find jobs in the formal sector. According to the latest Labour Force Survey (1999-2000) about two-third (65.8 per cent) of the non-agriculture employed labour force is engaged in informal sector activities in Pakistan. The labour policy aims at adopting an evolutionary approach to provide a better work environment and gradual extension of welfare measures to the workers in the informal sector through active consultation and collaboration with the workers and the employers.
Similarly, the workers in the agriculture sector constitute about one-half of the labour force of Pakistan. At present there is no coverage of these workers under the labour legislation. As a first step, efforts are in hand to evolve a labour package for workers in the corporate farming sector. The package includes extension of various labour welfare measures, including determination of terms and conditions of employment. This package would pave the way for wider coverage of agriculture workers in the future.
The Labour Policy 2002 reflects the government’s firm resolve to end gender discrimination and promote gender balance in all fields in line with our constitutional obligations as well as international instruments. To facilitate the participation of women in the job market through improvement in the work environment, the Ministry of Labour has collaborated with the Ministry of Women Development towards development of a code of conduct for gender justice at the work place. Active collaboration is also planned with all stakeholders to help implement the ILO Convention 100 on Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value for Men and Women Workers, which Pakistan ratified in October 2001.
The role of human resource development in the process of economic growth and development is vital. The labour policy effectively addresses the importance of human resource development in the context of skill development of workers through revamping of worker training and re-skilling programmes. For better provision of need-based vocational training, decentralization of vocational training to provinces and restructuring of the National Training Bureau is a major policy initiative. The promotion of public-private sector cooperation through employer-led skill development councils in all the provinces is also being supported and encouraged.
The foremost policy framework is to increase the effectiveness of institutions responsible for social protection and labour welfare through strengthening of the tripartite character of their management boards, decentralization of the Workers Welfare Fund and introduction of Self-Assessment Scheme in Employees Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and Social Security Institutions (SSIs) to remove irritants for employees and encourage registration of new establishments and workers.
The process of consolidation, simplification and rationalization of labour laws into six categories — industrial relations, employment conditions, wages, human resource development, occupational safety and health and labour welfare and social safety net — is a major plank of the new labour policy. The first law — the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002 — was promulgated in October 2002.The simplification and consolidation of the other laws is under process in consultation with all the stakeholders.
The National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) is being restructured and its role to promote healthy trade unionism is being strengthened. Its functions have been revamped to address the allegations of misuse of powers in the context of unfair labour practices on the part of employers. The Labour Policy aims at promoting and sustaining social dialogue between the labourers and the employers by facilitating and nurturing bilateral mechanisms for negotiations and mutual cooperation. The creation of WEBCOP (Workers and Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan) by the enlightened employers and labour leaders is a pioneering effort, and a positive development in this respect. The policy fully supports this initiative and provides for strengthening of such efforts. The policy envisages the role of the government basically as a facilitator. Its role as regulatory authority will be required when bilateral mechanisms are demonstrably unable to resolve conflicts and issues between the worker and the employer.
The Policy provides for the government to persuade and encourage workers’ and employers’ organizations to evolve bilateral codes of conduct at the level of enterprise and industry which should lay emphasis on respect for reciprocal rights and obligations of both the parties, provide for communication between the management and the CBA, and enhance confidence in unions to play a positive role in organizational performance.
The government has undertaken various activities for elimination of child labour under the ILO-IPEC programme to achieve the targets set out in the action plan of the government. Pakistan also ratified the ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in October 2001 and recently, the Time-Bound Programme for elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour has been launched in Pakistan.
On bonded labour, the government has expressed a firm political will to eradicate the menace of bonded labour, and also to prevent its future occurrence through a comprehensive programme.
The Ministry of Labour in collaboration with the ILO has convened a Bonded Labour Research Forum and notable social science researchers are engaged in conducting rapid assessments to investigate the nature and extent of bondage in various sectors in all the four provinces.
The Labour Policy also recognizes the need for improvement in the working conditions of mine workers. It is envisaged that the Mines Act of 1923 will be reviewed and revised and issues of occupational safety and health as well as social protection of mine workers will be addressed in a comprehensive manner.
There is no doubt that fulfilment and satisfactory accomplishment of the aims and goals of the Labour Policy 2002 is crucially dependent on a sustained collective effort on the part of government, workers and employers. All three stakeholders have to play their roles with utmost commitment and a firm resolve to support and strengthen each other’s efforts for the cause of attaining a decent, honourable and productive work life for the workers of Pakistan.
(The writer is the Federal Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Manpower).