Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

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

The Committee notes the observations made by the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU). It further takes note of the interim conclusions and recommendations made by the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 2006 (see 318th Report, paragraphs 324-352, approved by the Governing Body in November 1999).

I. Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention (the right of workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing and the right not to be liable to administrative dissolution or suspension

1. Suspension of trade union rights for workers of the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the exclusion of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) workers, as well as forestry, railway and hospital workers from the Industrial Relations Ordinance

The Committee notes the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in respect of Case No. 2006 and, like the Committee on Freedom of Association, expresses its deep regret at the measures taken in Presidential Ordinance No. XX of 1998 (repromulgated under Presidential Ordinance No. V of 1999) resulting in the de-registration and effective suspension of the WAPDA Hydro Electric Central Labour Union, contrary to Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the effects of this suspension have now elapsed and, if not, to take the necessary measures urgently to restore full trade union rights to the WAPDA union. Furthermore, noting that the WAPDA union has filed an appeal against the decision of the Deputy Registrar to cancel its registration, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of this judgement as soon as it is handed down.

The Committee also notes Presidential Ordinance No. VIII of 1999 which would appear to exclude workers of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation from the purview of the 1969 Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO). Given that the IRO sets forth, among others, the conditions for trade union registration, this ordinance violates Article 2 of the Convention. Recalling furthermore its previous comments concerning the exclusion of hospital workers, forestry and railway workers from the provisions of the IRO, the Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary measures in the near future to ensure the full right to organize for all the abovementioned categories of workers.

2. Export processing zones

With reference to its previous comments concerning the 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), the Committee recalls the Government's indication in its previous report that the exclusion of EPZs was not a permanent feature, but that it was unlikely that the Export Processing Zones Authority provision would be lifted before 2001. Recalling that the provisions of this Convention should apply to all workers, without distinction, including workers in export processing zones, the Committee hopes that the Government will be able to indicate in its next report the progress made in ensuring the rights guaranteed by this Convention to workers in EPZs.

3. High-level public servants and the restricted definition of "worker" in the Industrial Relations Ordinance

Concerning the exclusion of public servants of Grade 16 and above from the term "worker" in the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO), 1969 (section 2(viii) (special provision)) and thus from the possibility of forming trade unions, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that public servants of Grade 16 and above enjoy the right to organize.

As concerns the further exclusion from the definition of workers in the IRO of persons employed in an administrative or managerial capacity whose wages exceed 800 rupees per month (far below the national minimum wage), the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the progress made in amending this definition so as to ensure that only those with true managerial and supervisory capacity may eventually be excluded from workers' unions.

II. Article 3 (the right of workers' organizations to elect their officer freely and to organize their activities and formulate their programmes without government interference)

1. Union of Civil Aviation Employees, as well as the employees of the Pakistan Television and Broadcasting Corporations (PTVC and PBC)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee recalls that the Supreme Court, while restoring the right of these employees to organize and to bargain collectively, also declared that these employees could not take industrial action in the absence of statutory backing. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that these employees, to the extent that they do not fall within essential services in the strict sense of the term, may take industrial action without penalty.

2. Public utility services and essential services

The Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned section 33 of the Industrial Relations Ordinance which permits the Government to issue an order prohibiting strikes in respect of any of the public utility services and sections 4 and 7 of the 1952 Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act which sanctions with up to one year imprisonment any person engaged in any employment declared applicable by the Act who disobeys a government order not to depart from specified areas. The Committee notes that this legislation has been and is still applied to services which cannot be considered to be essential in the strict sense of the term (that is, services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of whole or part of the population and to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraphs 158-160). By way of example the Committee notes that postal services, railways and airways still figure on the list of public utility services in the Schedule to the IRO (1998 edition of the Labour Code). The Committee urges the Government to amend the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act and section 33 of the Industrial Relations Ordinance and the schedule thereto in the near future so as to ensure that the prohibition of industrial action will be limited to essential services or to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State.

In its previous comments, the Committee also pointed out that, under section 32(2) of the IRO, the Government may prohibit any strike lasting more than 30 days. It therefore further urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend this section to ensure that the prohibition of strike action may occur only in respect of the abovementioned services and restricted group of public servants and in the event of an acute national crisis (see General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 152).

3. Amendment to the Banking Companies Ordinance

The Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned the amendment to section 27-B of the Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962, which restricted the possibility of becoming a member or officer of a bank union only to employees of the bank in question, under penalty of up to three years' imprisonment. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to make this restriction more flexible either by admitting as candidates persons who have previously been employed in the occupation concerned, or by exempting from the occupational requirement a reasonable proportion of the officers of an organization.

4. Amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997

The Committee notes with concern the promulgation of Presidential Ordinance No. IV of 1999 which amends the Anti-Terrorism Act by, among others, inserting a provision concerning the creation of civil commotion, punishable under the Act by up to seven years' imprisonment. Civil commotion is defined under section 7A to include the commencement or continuation of illegal strikes, go-slows or lockouts. The Committee would first recall that it considers that sanctions for strike action should be possible only where the prohibitions in question are in conformity with the principles of freedom of association. Furthermore, if measures of imprisonment are to be imposed at all they should be justified by the seriousness of the offences committed (see General Survey, op. cit., paragraph 177). The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate whether this Ordinance is still applicable and, if so, to consider amending the text so as to ensure that disproportionate penal sanctions are not applied even to illegal industrial action under national law which would be in conformity with the principles of freedom of association.