Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

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

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report. It also notes the statement of the Government representative to the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in 2001 and the discussions which ensued thereafter. It also notes the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 2096 (326th Report, approved by the Governing Body at its 282nd Session in November 2001).

Article 2 of the Convention

1. The Committee notes from the information provided in the Government’s report that the ban on trade union activities in the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) has not been lifted. The Government states that due to the adverse financial situation of the KESC, it may take more time for the restoration of trade union activities in the KESC. The Committee notes with regret, that the Government repeats its previous argument that it will restore trade union rights in the KESC as soon as the enterprise becomes viable and productive again. The Committee considers that the viability of an enterprise must not be a precondition for guaranteeing fundamental rights on freedom of association. The Committee once again requests the Government to lift the ban on trade union activities in the KESC and to restore the trade union and collective bargaining rights of KESC workers without delay and to keep it informed of measures taken in this regard.

2. The Committee notes the indication in the Government’s latest report that it has authorized the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) to frame draft labour legislation and that draft labour laws are being finalized by the Authority and sent to the relevant ministries of the federal Government for vetting, clearance and enactment. The Committee trusts that this legislation will ensure the rights under the Convention to the EPZ workers and requests the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made in this regard and to transmit a copy of any relevant draft texts or adopted legislation.

3. As concerns the exclusion from the definition of workers in the 1969 Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO) of persons employed in an administrative or managerial capacity whose wages exceed 800 rupees per month, the Committee regrets that no information was provided in this regard. It 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.

4. Finally, as concerns the exclusion from the IRO of public servants of grade 16 and above, and of forestry, railway and hospital workers, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure the rights guaranteed by the Convention to these category of workers.

Article 3.

1. Right to elect officers freely. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning section 27-B of the Banking Companies Ordinance of 1962 which restricts the possibility of becoming an officer of a bank union only to employees of the bank in question, under penalty of up to three years’ imprisonment. The Committee once again recalls that provisions of this type infringe the right of workers’ organizations to elect representatives in full freedom by preventing qualified persons, such as full-time union officers or pensioners, from carrying out union duties or by depriving unions of the benefit of the experience of certain officers when they are unable to provide enough qualified persons among their own ranks. When national legislation imposes conditions of this kind on all trade union leaders, there is also a real risk of interference by the employer through the dismissal of trade union officers, which deprives them of their trade union office. In order to bring such legislation into conformity with the Convention, it would be desirable to make it 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 (see 1994 General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 117). Therefore, the Committee once again requests the Government to amend its legislation in order to bring it into conformity with the Convention, either by exempting from the occupational requirement a reasonable proportion of the officers of an organization, or by admitting as candidates persons who have been previously employed in the banking company.

2. Right to organize activities and administration. As regards the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the employees of Civil Aviation and of Pakistan Television and Broadcasting Corporations (PTV and PBC) may have recourse to industrial action without penalty, the Committee notes with interest information provided by the Government that in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the parallel legal framework regulating Employees Management Relations, has been drafted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and is likely to be notified soon. According to the Government, CAA employees have not been treated as essential services in the strict sense of the term. The Committee further notes with interest that the PBC have allowed union formation by employees from scales 1 to 4, who may engage in trade union activities, including the right to strike, provided they ensure a minimum service. Furthermore, the PBC has recommended that 50 per cent of employees of scales 5 and 6 may go on strike. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether the minimum services established at the PBC came about as a result of an agreement between the workers and employers concerned and to indicate any further developments enabling civil aviation and PTV employees to organize their activities without interference from the public authorities, including possible recourse to industrial action.

3. As regards the public utility and essential services, in its previous comments the Committee noted that sections 4 and 7 of the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act of 1952 provide for sanctions with up to one year imprisonment of any person engaged in any employment declared applicable by the Act (which includes services beyond those which can be considered essential in the strict sense of the term) who disobeys a Government order not to depart from specified areas and that section 33 of the IRO permits the Government to issue an order prohibiting strikes in respect of any of the public utility services. While noting the indication in the Government’s report that these restrictions were made keeping in view the vital importance of certain services in the economic and social life of the nation, the Committee notes that the legislation continues to apply 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, paragraphs 158-160)). The Committee further notes that, while the Government states that postal workers are federal government servants and would therefore not be covered by the IRO, postal services, railways and airways still figure on the list of public utility services in the Schedule to the IRO and would therefore appear to be restricted in their exercise of industrial action. The Committee once again urges the Government to amend the Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act and section 33 of the IRO so as to ensure that the prohibition of industrial action will be limited to essential services in the strict sense of the term or to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State (such as those working in Government, ministries, judicial or legislative bodies, but not including employees in state enterprises or institutions).

Finally, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate whether Presidential Ordinance No. IV of 1999, which amends the Anti-Terrorism Act by penalizing the creation of civil commotion, including illegal strikes or go-slows, with up to seven years’ imprisonment, is still applicable.

In addition, a request regarding certain points is being addressed directly to the Government.