Say No to Corruption

TUTORIAL DISCUSSION

HUMAN RIGHTS: ISSUES IN PAKISTAN AT THE

OPERATIONAL AND TACTICAL LEVEL

Group Commander:

Respectable Mr. Zia-ur-Rehman

Chairperson

Seemab Qaiser

Date of Discussion:

09th October 2015

Prepared By

Irfan Ali

Roll No.

Designation:

ADVII-067

Assistant Director

National Accountability Bureau

Police Training College Sihala

Question for Discussion:

Over past few years, Trade Union activities have declined. As a result, protection of labors
rights is neither being ensured by government nor by the industrialists. Most of the industries are
actually owned by feudal or industrialists in government or in opposition. Discuss as to how
labor rights can be protected in the given scenario?

Introduction:
Pakistan has one of the largest labor and manpower resources in the world, due to its large
population, which is the sixth largest in the world. According to data produced by the CIA World
Fact book, the total number of Pakistan's labor force is 57.2 million, making it the ninth largest
country by available human workforce. About 43% of this labor is involved in agriculture,
20.3% in industry and the remaining 36.6% in other services.
Pakistan being a developing country depends largely on its labor class. Since independence,
Pakistan has witnessed an ever-growing labor force, which has made it extremely important that
rights of these labors are protected, in order to keep them motivated and efficient. Labor unions
exist to represent safety concerns and personal security issues of employees to employers.
Unions also serve as a forum where different ideas on how labor should be treated by
management and employers can be debated.

Discussion:
The Chairperson started the discussion with the opening remarks that he Constitution of
Pakistan, 1973, gives due rights to the workers and work force of the country, particularly under
Articles 11, 17 18 and 25. The constitution defines the rights and duties of the labor force very
clearly; it says that there will be no bound labor or child labor in the country. There should be
fair wages or them; they have all liberal rights including the right of strike in adverse
circumstances. Furthermore there should be equal opportunities for all of them regardless of their
age, gender or age. The constitution says that the labor is not slave of anyone they are free, equal
and liberal citizen of Pakistan.

The chairperson extended the discussion by asking Mr. Hassan Bilal to present his views about
the labor force in Pakistan and their problems and grievances.
Mr. Hassan Bilal: In my views, the trade unions have failed to protect the rights of the labor in
Pakistan, and this is not because they were not efficient on their part but due to the reason that
the enforcement of such rights has been greatly restrained. According to an international survey,
Pakistan ranks very low on the list of countries in terms of labor rights. On a scale of 1 to 5,
where 1 being the best and 5 being the worst, Pakistan scored only a 4 for the total workforce.
Less than 15% of the total workforce in Pakistan has access to labor unions, and there is only 01
labor union for farmers in the entire country. The law also restricts trade unions to be formed
where the total no. of labors employed is less than 50 in an organization. The organizations take
the undue advantage of this restriction and manipulate the number of employees for their own
hidden benefits.
The Chairperson further extended the sequence of discussion and asked Mr. Arslan to further
discuss the reasons for the lack of enforcement of labors laws in Pakistan.
Mr. Arslan: I think the main reason behind lack of enforcement and implementation of labor
laws with true spirit is the fact that the Labor Courts, Services Tribunals, etc. responsible to
strengthen the enforcement of labor laws have always been weak and practiced under political
influence from the feudalist class of the country. Apart from that, the fact that a vast majority of
the labor class is illiterate and uneducated, it becomes more difficult to mobilize and unite them
on one platform for the sake of achieving their rights. A large number of labor class in also very
poor, which makes it hard for them to join the unions, as they cant afford to go on strikes
because of the fear of not being able to earn and survive. So the poverty is also a big hurdle in
the way of struggle to achieve goals and to continue the struggle for a long time.
The discussion was going on in a very constructive way, Mr. Chairperson further extended the
discussion and now he asked Mr. Hammad Kamal to express his views
Mr. Hammad Kamal: In my opinion the most important reason behind lack of enforcement of
labor rights is that the trade unions have always been fighting amongst each other, which has in
turn led the labors to lose faith in them and eventually rendering the trade unions to become
weak in position as compared to the owners of the firms or those running the show. The
governments since the creation of Pakistan have always neglected the issue of labor rights, and

that is very prominent from the economic policies that have been enforced over the years, which
have, for most of the times, been extremely harsh on the rights of the labors. The management
continuously interferes in the selection and working of labor unions whether directly or
indirectly and uses the labor union leaders for their hidden interests and benefits. These reasons
are actually responsible for the weak working structure of the labor unions.
The Chairperson now asked Mr. Aleem baig to further discuss the responsibilities of government
to strengthen the labor unions and to make sure that the labors get their due rights.
Mr. Aleem Baig: I think that the governments needs to ensure that there should be no violations
of labor rights and if happens it should strictly be dealt with. One of the best solutions for that is
to empower the labor Courts and tribunals, in order to make them able to protect and uphold the
rights of the victimized labors throughout the country. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
policies also need to be implemented in the country, as they have created a great impact
internationally. Analysts have recommended measures like surprise audit checks, security visits,
etc. to ensure that labor right violations are kept under proper check and corrupt owners are
punished for any such violations. Another thing that is necessary is that the decision of labor
courts and tribunals should be announced within short time, there should not be any unnecessary
delays in decisions of the pending cases, and the justice should be quick and effective.
The Chairperson asked Mr. Wasif Khan to discuss the steps government should take to protect
the labor rights in Pakistan.
Mr. Wasif Khan: In my views too ensure the rights of labor, the government need to strengthen
the economic policies so that the labors can be provided with adequate monetary help. Increase
in minimum wage rate and pension must be put in to effect. Insurance policies must also be
devised in order to deal with any mishaps that occur at the workplace. Economic situation of the
country and the employment opportunities in the country directly affect the labor force and their
problems. If there should be proper facilities for labor force on the part of government, there will
a more satisfactory condition of the labor force.
The Chairperson started to conclude the discussion asked Mr. Abdur Rehman to discuss the
prevailing laws, institutions and committees working for the enforcement of labor laws in
Pakistan.

Mr. Abdur Rehman: Tin Pakistan we dont have the shortage of laws and regulations to protect
the rights of labor, what actually we miss is the will of implementation of these laws. There are
more than 30 laws in place in Pakistan for the safety of labor rights; however, most of them are
left unattended when it comes to the issue. National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC)
must be made stronger for the sake of protection of the labor rights, and the role of the Collective
Bargaining Agents (CBA) must be widened. Rules and laws must be simplified so that they can
be easily comprehended by the labor force for their own benefit. Proper training programs must
be initiated for labors to educate them and to facilitate them.
Finally Mr. Seemab Qaiser, the chairperson concluded the discussion with his concluding
remarks that the labor is the back bone of any civilized nation, the economy of the country and
its industry directly depends on the labor force of that country. If the labor force is getting their
due rights and they are happy with the facilities they will hard harder with great motivation. On
the other hand if the labor force is unhappy and unsatisfied with government policies then there
will be a frustration in labor force and this unrest and dissatisfaction will affect the economy in
negative way.
Pakistan is very rich when it comes to the labor force skills, most of our population is young and
energetic, what we dont have is the proper employment facilities and lack of labor laws in our
country. If we implement the labor laws with true spirit there is no doubt that we can progress
with very fast and effective speed and we can overcome all the hurdles.

What I get from the Discussion:

I was listening all the participants very carefully and with full concentration, and I can say
without any second thought that it was very effective, dynamic and fruitful discussion. Labor is
key factor in economy and progress of any country. In Pakistan unfortunately, all the major
portion of industrial and agriculture sector is owned by feudals, industrialists whether they are in
government or opposition. The most important thing we need is to strengthen the trade unions
and keep them away from all kind of external influences. There should be a proper
implementation of labor laws and they should get their due rights without and delay. The
government should play its role to make the labor force of our country more effective, more
efficient by providing them all the facilities written in our constitution.