New laws under 18th Amendment: ignorance of labour rights deplored

The representatives of trade unions in a meeting organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has deplored the mindset ignoring labour rights and international conventions, while adopting new labour laws following the transfer of different subjects to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.
The trade union leaders who attended the meeting included General Secretary of Pakistan Workers' Federation, Khurshid Ahmed, President of Progressive Workers Federation, Khalid Bhatti, Bonded Labour Liberation Front, Syeda Ghulam Fatima, Hotel and Restaurants Employees Federation, Zulfiqar Sarmadi, Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaz, Shaukat Ali Chaudhry, National Trade Union Federation, Yousuf Baloch, and Muttahida Labour Federation, Muhammad Yaqub.
The labour representatives took exception to the provision of the 18th Amendment that abolished the system of labour legislation at the national level. National legislation was necessary, they said, to facilitate workers' organisations on the national scale.
They said that several provisions of the Punjab Industrial Relations Act, 2010 were in conflict with the country's international obligations under International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions and the recently ratified International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). They deplored the fact that the rights available to the workers even in the colonial era before Pakistan's creation had been curtailed or abolished by the new law. It was noted in the meeting with concern that workers in major public sector enterprises were not consulted before crucial decisions.
On this occasion the trade union leaders and HRCP jointly endorsed few recommendations that before 18th Amendment came into force the government should clarify the position of all-Pakistan trade unions. They recommended that Section 3 (1) of the Punjab Industrial Relations Act 2010, which abolishes the workers' right to form a union, violate ILO Convention 87 and Article 17 (1) of the constitution must be repealed.
They further lamented that workers of around 4,200 brick kiln in Punjab are likely to be excluded from the ambit of the law and from forming lawful unions. The new Punjab labour law reduces the number of outsiders in a union's executive from 25 percent to 20 percent. This is contrary to the workers' right to derive strength from the society wherever a union lacks expertise, they added.
The trade union leaders deplored the failure of the Punjab lawmakers to define the role and obligations of 'contractor'. They also protested against the fact that the law approved by the Punjab Assembly is less friendly to labour than the Ordinance it was asked to debate and turn it into an Act.
The meeting agreed that the right to work, to a fair wage and social security are essential for paying due respect to the right to life and called upon all authorities to conform to the ILO conventions and fulfil the state's obligations to the workers under the recently ratified ICESCR. Instead of a collective bargaining agent (CBA), the new law allows the management to deal with workers directly and individually. The meeting expressed concern that this arrangement is bound to undermine workers' rights and would lead to exploitation.