Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee noted from the Government’s report for last year that agriculture in Pakistan was governed by a separate set of laws such as tenancy laws, Revenue Act, etc. It further noted the Government’s declaration that it was now trying to bring the agricultural sector under the purview of the labour laws.

The Committee once again emphasizes that Article 2 provides that all workers, without distinction whatsoever, should have the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. While agriculture is not expressly excluded from the Industrial Relations Ordinance of 1969, it is not expressly included and the definitions given in the Ordinance can be interpreted as excluding small agricultural units, such as self-employed farmers, sharecroppers, tenants and smallholders, from its application. Therefore, the Committee considers that there is an important gap in the legislation and requests the Government to take appropriate measures to modify existing laws or enact new laws in relation to workers engaged in agriculture and their right to establish organizations in order to comply with its obligation to respect and fully apply the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report information on legislative and other measures taken or envisaged to ensure that those engaged in agriculture including sharecroppers, tenants, farmers, small independent farmers, and other categories of agricultural workers working in small agricultural units enjoy full rights under the Convention.