Pakistan : Govt urged to amend labour laws in conformity with ILO Conventions
LAHORE, Sep 16: The Punjab chapter of All Pakistan Workers Confederation (APWC) has urged the federal and provincial governments to hold tripartite consultations at the earliest to amend certain provisions of
labour laws in conformity with International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions.
The governments should initiate measures to curb price hike and raise wages of the workers engaged in the private, government and semi-government and autonomous bodies commensurate with the price hike, said resolutions unanimously adopted at a meeting of the confederation at the Labour Hall here on Sunday.
Presented by APWC Punjab chairman Yousaf Baloch, president Rubina Jameel and secretary Osama Tariq, it called for amending labour laws in conformity with the ILO Convention 87 and 98 which had been ratified by the Pakistan government.
It also demanded that the Punjab Industrial Relation Act 2010 and statutory labour laws be implemented through independent labour inspection machinery in conformity with the ILO Convention 81 which had also been ratified by the Pakistan government.
Demanding an end to the outdated system of feudalism, stoppage of privatisation process of public utilities like electricity in the public interest, elimination of abuse of child and bonded labour, it also called for the promotion of safety culture for prevention of accidents and occupational diseases and hazard at the workplace.
It urged federal and all provincial governments to introduce economic and social reforms in order to tackle abject poverty and aggravating unemployment.
Regularisation of all contract and work-charged employees, provision of free medical facilities to retired industrial workers under the social security scheme, an end to privatisation of public utilities were the other demands raised through another unanimous resolution presented by APWC secretary Osama Tariq, Akbar Ali Khan, Mahmood Butt, Waris Khan and Bashir Zafar.
Paying rich tributes to Quaid-i-Azam, APWC central general-secretary Khurshid Ahmad regretted that the objectives for which a separate state for the Muslims of the Indo-Pak subcontinent was created could not be achieved.
No country could progress till it has supremacy of law and provision of justice and equal opportunities of education and employment for all.
Published by Daily Dawn on Sep 12, 2016
