Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 355, November 2009

Case No 2520 (Pakistan) - Complaint date: 23-SEP-06 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 109. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns allegations of the cancellation of the registration of the Karachi Shipyard Labour Union (KSLU) and of obstacles to collective bargaining faced by the union concerned, at its March 2009 meeting [see 353rd Report, paras 186–189]. On that occasion the Committee expressed its deep regret that the Government, apart from reiterating that several trade unions had filed constitutional petitions before the Sindh High Court in Karachi challenging the Sindh Registrar’s cancellation order, had once again failed to indicate any steps taken to implement its previous recommendations. Recalling once again that civilian workers in the manufacturing establishments of the armed forces should have the right to establish organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization, in conformity with Convention No. 87, the Committee once again requested the Government to take the necessary measures to revoke the Sindh Registrar’s order, so as to reinstate the registration of the KSLU and of any other unions that may have been dissolved due to the administrative control of the enterprise concerned by the Ministry of Defence Production. Additionally, the Committee once again requested the Government to initiate an investigation into the obstacles to collective bargaining encountered by the KSLU during the period 2003–06 and to promote future collective bargaining with the union, if it was still found to be representative of the workers at the Karachi Shipyard and Engg Works Ltd. Finally, as concerned the bill to amend the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO) 2002, the Committee reminded the Government that the ILO’s technical assistance was at its disposal, if it so wished, and requested it to continue to inform the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, to which it had referred the legislative aspects of the case, of the measures taken or envisaged to amend section 12(3) of the IRO 2002 so that the failure to seek or obtain collective bargaining agent status did not constitute grounds for the cancellation of a trade union’s registration.
2. 110. In a communication of 16 April 2009, the Government states that under the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) 2008, which is intended to repeal the IRO 2002, the registration of a union can be cancelled by the Registrar of Unions only if the Registrar, after holding an inquiry, determines that the said union has dissolved itself or ceased to exist. The Government also indicates that the constitutional petitions brought by several trade unions challenging the Sindh Registrar’s cancellation order remained pending before the Sindh High Court in Karachi.
3. 111. The Committee, while noting with interest the amendment made in the 2008 IRA to restrict the powers of cancellation of the Registrar of Unions, deeply regrets that the Government once again confines itself in this specific case to reiterating that several trade unions have filed constitutional petitions before the Sindh High Court in Karachi challenging the Sindh Registrar’s cancellation order, while again providing no indication that it has taken steps to implement its request to ensure the renewed registration of the KSLU and the other unions. The Committee observes in this regard that the request for revocation of the cancellation order has been pending since 2006, and recalls that justice delayed is justice denied. Recalling once again that civilian workers in the manufacturing establishments of the armed forces should have the right to establish organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization, in conformity with Convention No. 87 [see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, fifth edition, 2006, para. 227], the Committee urges the Government to take immediate steps for the revocation of the Registrar’s order, so as to reinstate the registration of the KSLU and of any other unions that may have been dissolved due to the administrative control of the enterprise concerned by the Ministry of Defence Production. Furthermore, it once again requests the Government to initiate an investigation into the obstacles to collective bargaining encountered by the KSLU during the period 2003–06 and to promote future collective bargaining with the union, if it was still found to be representative of the workers at the Karachi Shipyard and Engg Works Ltd.