It was a red-letter day in the history of industrial relations in Pakistan when a National Industrial Relations and Provincial Tripartite Labour Convention was organized on 19th and 20th May 2016 by Employers’ Federation of Pakistan in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).
the adoption of 18th Constitutional Amendment and devolution of the labour to the provinces, none of the provinces have come forward with a labour policy which could serve as a guideline for employers and business to look forward for guidance in terms of the Government policy on employment generation, productivity, improvement and economic growth.
In this background, the initiative of the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan in convening the National Industrial Relations and Provincial Tripartite Labour Convention on Post Devolution Labour Reforms and their Impact on Business Sustainability was surely a timely and much needed initiative appreciated by the Tripartite Constituents and other stakeholders.
Structure of the Convention
The two-day Event comprised of an Inaugural Session and four Business Sessions on the first day and two Business Sessions and a closing session on the second day. Each of the six Business Sessions had a given theme and was structured in the true spirit of tripartism in such a way that each session was chaired by a government representative, co-chaired by an academia representative. An employer representative was a key-note speaker on the theme of the session and there was a co-speaker from the workers representative to comment on the key-note address.
OBJECTIVE
The objective was to develop the guidelines for an employment, productivity and welfare oriented labor policy with a national understanding and common thinking among tripartite plus stakeholders so that a harmonious approach may be developed at the provincial levels with a business case for economic growth and decent work in the post devolution phase after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
THEMATIC SESSIONS
The Themes of the Six Business Sessions were:-
- Framework for a Federal / Provincial Labour Policy and the Deterrents identified in the EFP’s IR Research on Differences Between Provincial Labour Laws in Post Devolution Phase.
- Essentials of Labour Laws which should be common to all provinces and trans-Provincial enterprises.
- Gender Mainstreaming & Women Empowerment.
- Employment, production, productivity and decent work oriented Labour laws & Policies compatible with the demands of socio – economic and environmental Sustainability.
- Identifying gaps between Labour legislation in Pakistan and the International Labour Conventions, particularly the Core ILS ratified by Pakistan.
- Importance of MNEs’ Declaration in the context of business sustainability.
EFP Award of Excellence in IR Practices
The Employers’ Federation of Pakistan also invited nominations from companies with Best IR Practices for consideration of EFP Award of Excellence in IR Practices on this occasion. The ten nominations were considered by an Evaluation Committee and based on their recommendations, the following awards were also conferred in the inaugural session of the Convention: –
- Grand recognition IR Practices Award was given to Hinopak Motors Limited on overall Best IR Practices.
- Recognition of IR Practices Award was given to Bayer Pakistan for Best Benefits Impact, and to Lotte Chemicals for Best Practices at the Workplace and to Agriautos for Employee Engagement.
- Emerging IR Practice Award was also given to Ayesha Fabrics for adopting Social Dialogue Approach in IR.
The award to the winning companies was given by the Chief Guest and the Guests of Honors. The representatives of the top three winning companies briefly presented snapshots of their company’s IR Practices.
Outcome of the Convention
At the conclusion of the two-day Convention, the final outcome of the convention was reflected in the following documents: –
- The resolution containing policy guidelines for an employment, productivity and welfare-oriented labor policy developed with the consensus of employers and workers which could serve as the working document for the federal and provincial governments as they venture to draw the new labor policy.
- Resolution presented by Mr. Karamat Ali, Director, PILER.
- Resolution containing policy guidelines to combat labor market implications of climate change.
A set of Affirmative Leadership Statements on Gender Equality policy was signed by around 25 Participants.