Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Pakistan (Ratification: 1951)

The Committee notes the Government's report and the discussion which took place in the Conference Committee in 1992. It also takes note of the communication from the Pakistan National Federation of Trade Unions (PNFTU) dated 8 July 1992 as well as the communications from the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU) dated 8 July 1992, 20 September 1992 and 3 January 1993:

The Committee's previous observations referred to discrepancies between the national legislation and the Convention on the following points:

- ban on trade union membership and activities for employees of the Pakistan Television Corporation and the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation;

- denial of the rights guaranteed by the Convention for workers in export processing zones (section 25 of the Export Processing Zones Authority Ordinance, 1980, and section 4 of the Export Processing Zone (Control of Employment) Rules, 1982);

- exclusion of public servants of Grade 16 and above from the scope of the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 (section 2(viii) (special provision));

- restrictions on recourse to strikes (sections 32(2) and 33(1) of the Ordinance);

- prohibition on minority unions from representing their members in relation to individual grievances;

- comments from the PNFTU alleging the promotion of union activists as an anti-union tactic.

- denial of the right to form trade unions for employees in public and private sector hospitals.

1. The Government states that although attempts are being made at the highest level to restore trade union rights to employees of the Pakistan Television and Broadcasting Corporations, difficulties were being encountered in the interministerial consultations. The Committee trusts that trade union rights will be restored to the above employees very soon and requests the Government to send information on this matter in its next report.

2. As regards the granting of trade union rights in export processing zones, the Government indicates that these were set up to boost industrialization and to enable workers and employers to work together in an environment of industrial peace. Since the work in these zones is progressing satisfactorily and since there has been no complaint from either party, the Government does not consider it advisable to disturb the status quo. The Committee would recall that these restrictions are incompatible with Convention No. 87 which should apply to these zones as it does to other parts of the country. Moreover, even if there has been no complaint from either parties, the Committee would point out that the parties must have the possibility of exercising their rights under the Convention if they so wish, without being unduly hampered by legal restrictions.

Furthermore, according to the communications of the PNFTU and the APFTU, not only is the Government maintaining the status quo in export processing zones but it has declared on several occasions that it would exclude the applicability of labour laws to workers in the Special Industrial Zones which had been set up recently by the Government in different parts of the country under its "Foreign Investors' Scheme". The Committee requests the Government to send its observations on the contents of these communications in its next report.

3. Regarding the exclusion of civil servants of Grade 16 and above from the scope of the Industrial Relations Ordinance, the Government had claimed previously that there were 25 associations of civil servants which could act in a wide range of ways for the defence of their members' interests. The Committee would request the Government to furnish information relating to the size and activities of these associations in its next report.

The Committee had also noted from section 28 of the Sindh Government Servants (Conduct) Rules that associations of public servants were subject to serious restrictions incompatible with Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention: membership confined to civil servants serving in one functional unit (see the 1983 General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, paragraph 126); requirement that all office-bearers be members of that association (op. cit., para. 158); ban on engaging in political activities, limiting activities to matters of personal interest of their members, ban on involvement in the individual cases of their members, ban on issuing periodical publications or publishing representations on behalf of their members without government sanction, and the requirement of prior approval of the approving authority (the employer) of their by-laws (see op. cit., paras. 195, 68 and 152 respectively).

The Government states in its report that at present there is no bar on the formation of associations of different categories of employees. The Committee would request the Government to send a copy of the amending legislation on this point. It would point out, however, that this measure addresses only one of the above restrictions. The Committee therefore asks the Government to inform it of measures taken or envisaged to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention on the other points mentioned above. It further requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether similar restrictions exist in other provinces.

4. With respect to the restrictions on recourse to strikes, the Government indicates that the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1952 is not applicable to the Post and Telegraph Services, Railways and Airways and Ports except for those employees who load and unload goods at the Port of Karachi. While noting this point, the Committee observes that section 33(1) of the Industrial Relations Ordinance of 1969 enables the Government to prohibit any strike, before or after its commencement, where the dispute involves "public utility services" within the meaning of the Schedule to the Ordinance. While the Committee agrees that most of the services listed in the schedule accord with its definition of essential services, namely services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (op. cit., para. 214), it must repeat that it has consistently considered that oil production and distribution, the post and telegraph services, railways and airways (except for air traffic controllers), and ports (all of which appear in the Schedule) are not as such within this definition. It accordingly again asks the Government to amend the Schedule.

5. So far as the right of representation of minority unions is concerned, the Government reiterates that if a minority union is allowed to have a dialogue with the employers in the presence of the elected representatives of the workers, it would severely undermine the importance of the elected representatives (i.e. the bargaining agent). It adds that the workers themselves are against such a move. The Committee would point out that the right of minority unions to represent their own members in individual grievances does not imply an undermining of the importance of the bargaining agents, since the function of minority unions would be limited to representing their members in individual grievances. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take measures so as to enable minority unions to represent their members in these specific circumstances.

6. The Committee noted in its previous observation that the Committee on Freedom of Association, in Case No. 1534, examined allegations from the PNFTU and other union organizations identical to the comments made by the PNFTU in the context of the present Convention, namely that a number of foreign-owned companies in the banking and financial sector were giving false promotions to their employees so as to remove them from the category of "workman" in section 2 of the Industrial Relations Ordinance and place them in the "employer" category, thus denying their right to belong to the same union as workers. The Committee on Freedom of Association found that these staff movements were clearly designed to undermine the membership of workers' unions, some of which had been severely affected in practice and called on the Government to take measures to strengthen the application of the protective provisions in the Ordinance so as to prevent employers from weakening workers' unions through artificial promotions. The present Committee notes that the Government reiterates its previous explanations, namely that section 15(i) provides protection against anti-union acts and that, if these were in effect false promotions since the employees received higher wages but not the corresponding change of task to a supervisory role, the employees could use the unfair labour practice provisions of section 22(A)(8)(g) and eventually go to the labour courts for redress. Noting that the Government has not yet supplied the statistics on the "employers'" organizations which might be formed by the promoted workers, the Committee considers that the Government should strengthen the Ordinance as suggested above, and asks it to inform it of any measures taken or envisaged in this connection.

7. Regarding the denial of the right to form trade unions for employees in public and private sector hospitals, the Government states that these employees have been excluded from the Industrial Relations Ordinance in the greater interests of the patients and the ailing community, and that if these employees were given normal trade union rights they would go on strike at the smallest pretext. The Committee would stress that the right to organize does not necessarily imply the right to strike which can be restricted or prohibited in essential services such as hospitals. It therefore requests the Government to restore to these employees the right to form trade unions and to negotiate collectively their terms and conditions of employment.

The Committee notes with interest that contacts are taking place between the Government and the Office in view of providing technical assistance to the Government. The Committee trusts that this assistance will enable the Government to take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into full conformity with the Convention.