Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

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

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, as well as the detailed information supplied by the Government representative to the Conference Committee in June 1995. The Committee further notes the comments made by the Pakistan Railway Employees Union (PREM).

I. The Committee's previous observations referred to discrepancies between 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 (IRO), 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;

- artificial promotions used as an anti-union tactic in the banking and finance sector;

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

1. As regards Pakistan Television and Broadcasting Corporations (PTVC and PBC), the Committee notes from the information supplied by the Government to the Conference Committee that the recommendation of the tripartite Task Force on Labour to allow the restoration of trade union rights to employees of the PTVC and the PBC is under active consideration by the Cabinet. The Committee therefore expresses the hope that trade union rights will be restored to the above employees and requests the Government to inform it of the Cabinet decision on this matter in its next report.

2. As regards the granting of trade union rights in export processing zones (EPZs), the Government once again refers to the Export Processing Zones Authority (Control of Employment) Rules, 1982, which regulate conditions of employment in EPZs and provide benefits which are better than those provided to other workers. The Government reiterates that, at present, only one EPZ has been established which employs fewer than 6,000 workers, 80 per cent of which are women. Moreover, since the cultural climate in Pakistan is not in favour of unionization of female workers due to social taboos, those workers do not demand that trade union rights under the IRO be restored to them. There is, however, no ban on their forming any association. The Government adds that the earlier recommendation of the tripartite Task Force to the effect that it would be desirable to apply labour laws uniformly without discrimination to all organizations is being actively considered by the Cabinet Committee. The Committee expresses the firm hope that trade union rights under the IRO will be restored to workers in EPZs and requests the Government to inform it of the Cabinet Committee's decision in this regard 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 reiterates that there is no bar on the formation of associations of different categories of employees. However, they are subject to certain restrictions to avoid the carrying out of activities that are harmful to the basic aims and objectives of their establishments, such as the engagement in political activities, the issuance of periodical publications or publishing representations of their members without prior government approval. The Committee had already noted these same restrictions in the Sindh Government Servants (Conduct) Rules in its previous comments. It would once again recall that such restrictions are incompatible with the right of workers' organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom and to organize their administration and activities without government interference in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee would draw the Government's attention to paragraph 86 of its General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining wherein it indicates that provisions stipulating that different organizations must be established for each category of public servants (for example, where trade union membership is reserved to public servants in the same unit) are incompatible with the right of workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. The Committee has, however, considered it admissible for first-level organizations of public servants to be limited to that category of workers provided that their organizations are not also restricted to employees of any particular ministry, department or service, and that they may freely join federations or confederations of their own choosing, like organizations of workers in the private sector.

As the Government has still not supplied the requested information relating to the size and activities of the existing associations of civil servants, the Committee once again requests the Government to supply this information with its next report.

4. With respect to restrictions on the right to strike, the Government reiterates that the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act of 1952 is only applied to employment organizations which meet defence needs or concern the life of the community. The main concern is to ensure the economic viability of national priority programmes and it is, therefore, in the national interest to ensure that industrial action does not continue for an indefinite period.

The Committee notes the Government representative's statement to the Conference Committee that the existing list of establishments under the Act have been reduced from 16 to eight, and that the list would be regularly re-examined. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the tripartite Task Force recommended the withdrawal of application of the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1952 to certain other establishments currently covered by the Act and that its recommendations were submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of the Cabinet decision on this matter in its next report.

5. As regards the right of representation of minority unions, the Government reiterates that it has taken note of the Committee's previous comments and is taking all possible measures in consonance with the Convention to protect the rights of minority unions accordingly.

6. With regard to the Committee's previous comments on artificial promotions in the banking and financial sector, as well as in the steel industry, designed to undermine the membership of workers' unions, the Government indicates that if in effect false promotions occurred whereby the employees received higher wages but no corresponding change of task to a supervisory role, these employees could resort to the unfair labour practice provisions of section 22(A)(8)(g) of the IRO, and eventually proceed to the labour court for redress. In this respect, the Committee recalls that section 2(viii) of the IRO excludes from the definition of "worker" any person "who, being employed in a supervisory capacity, draws wages exceeding 800 rupees per mensum". As the report of the direct contacts mission to Pakistan indicates that the minimum wage is 1,500 rupees, the definition of "worker" is meaningless. The Committee would once again draw the Government's attention to paragraph 66 of its General Survey wherein it has considered that legislation which allows for the granting of fictitious promotions to unionized workers without actually according them management responsibilities, thereby effectively placing them in the category of so-called "employers" to whom the right to organize is not permitted, is not in accordance with the Convention, since the end result is to deny the right of association and artificially reduce the size of the bargaining unit. It therefore requests the Government to amend the definition of "worker" so as to prevent the undermining of workers' organizations through artificial promotions and to grant all workers, without distinction whatsoever, the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. In this respect, the Committee notes with interest from the information provided by the Government to the Conference Committee, that the tripartite Task Force on Labour has considered broadening the definition of "workman" in order to solve the problem. The Committee requests the Government to inform it, in its next report, of the Task Force's recommendations in this regard to the Cabinet Committee.

7. Regarding the denial of the right to form trade unions for employees in public and private sector hospitals, the Government reiterates that the application of the Essential Services Act to these workers does not deprive them of the right to organize. Hence, they have the legal right to form associations. In addition, and according to the statement of the Government representative to the Conference Committee, although government hospital employees are not covered by the IRO, employees of private hospitals and clinics could form their own unions under the IRO. The Committee would note however that all hospital employees are excluded from the IRO under section 1(3)(f), which does not make a distinction between public and private sector hospitals. It therefore once again requests the Government to supply information on the legislative provisions actually in force which ensure hospital employees the right to establish and join organizations of hospital employees for furthering and defending their professional interests, as provided for in the Convention, and to indicate the size and activities of the associations in this sector.

II. The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not provided its observations to the Committee's previous comments on the denial of the right to organize of forestry workers. It must therefore recall its previous comments thereon which were as follows:

The Committee notes the recommendations made by the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 1696 (see 292nd Report of the Committee) concerning the refusal to register a union of forestry workers because they were not covered by the definition of the term "worker" in the Industrial Relations Ordinance of 1969 as they were considered to be civil servants. As recalled above, the right to establish and join an organization of one's own choosing applies to all workers "without distinction whatsoever" and therefore also applies to employees of the State. It therefore requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that employees of the State in general and forestry workers in particular are granted the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing.

III. The Committee notes with concern that the most recent comments made by the Pakistan Railway Employees' Union (PREM) concern a notification dated 12 September 1996 from the Railway Board debarring some more employees from the purview of the IRO and warning them of disciplinary action in the event that they resort to trade union activities. In previous comments, the Committee had noted that a ministerial circular which classified most railway lines as Ministry of Defence Lines and banned railway employees from taking part in any trade union activities had been the subject of a complaint examined by the Committee on Freedom of Association in November 1994 (295th Report) and that the Government had, at that time, indicated that the circular in question had been challenged before the Lahore High Court. The Government states that the Court dismissed PREM's petition on the basis of the sensitive position of Defence Lines. The Committee recalls that Article 2 of this Convention provides that the right to establish and join an organization of one's own choosing applies to all workers "without distinction whatsoever" and notes that the preliminary report of the tripartite Task Force on Labour recommends that this circular be withdrawn to enable railway workers to exercise their right of unionization without any restrictions or conditions. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that all workers, without distinction whatsoever, have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing and requests the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made in restoring this right to railway workers.

IV. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to take advantage of the technical assistance of the ILO in order to bring, at an early date, its legislation into conformity with the requirements of the Convention, in particular, as regards the right of all workers - including employees of the PTVC and the PBC, workers in export processing zones, public servants, hospital workers, railway employees and forestry workers - to establish and join organization of their own choosing without previous authorization, and as regards the right to strike. It asks the Government to report in detail on any progress made in this regard.

More generally, the Committee regrets to note that despite the undertaking of a direct contacts mission between a representative of the Director-General and the Government in January 1994, as well as the establishment of a tripartite Task Force on Labour which drew up recommendations very similar to those of the mission on amendments to be made to the legislation, the Government has still not taken the appropriate steps to give effect to the above-mentioned recommendations. The Committee therefore urges the Government to ensure that substantial progress is made in amending national legislation and practice concerning the issues raised by the Committee in the very near future.

While the Committee was sitting, it received the Government's report which it will examine at its next meeting.