Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 343, November 2006

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

1. 159. The Committee last examined this case at its November 2005 meeting [see 338th Report, paras. 267-274]. On that occasion it requested the Government: (1) to take all necessary measures so as to ensure, in practice, that trade unions can carry out their activities in the banking sector, including the right to elect their representatives in full freedom and the right to collective bargaining and, more specifically, to ensure that the United Bank Limited (UBL) employees’ unions can negotiate the terms and conditions of employment of its members with the managers of the UBL branches concerned; and (2) to conduct an independent inquiry to thoroughly and promptly consider the allegations of anti-union dismissals at the UBL and to take appropriate measures in response to any conclusions reached in relation to these allegations of anti-union discrimination and, if it appears that the dismissals occurred as a result of involvement by the workers concerned in the activities of a union, to reinstate those workers in their jobs without loss of pay or to pay an adequate compensation, so as to constitute sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, to the workers concerned, if the independent inquiry finds that reinstatement is not possible.
2. 160. In communications of 28 January and 18 February 2006, the UBL employees’ union, affiliated to the complainant organization, alleges total lack of progress made in respect of implementation of the Committee’s recommendations in this case. According to the UBL employees’ union, the UBL continues to refuse to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment, about 500 trade union leaders in the banking sector dismissed from their services pursuant to section 27-B of the Banking Companies Act were not yet reinstated and many other leaders are facing hardship due to this law. Furthermore, as a result of the abovementioned legislation, no trade union activities are possible in the banking sector, especially in the UBL.
3. 161. In its communication dated 6 October 2006, the Government indicates that the matter of amending the Banking Companies Act was taken up with the Ministry of Finance. According to the Ministry, the Act was under review and all observations and concerns expressed regarding section 27-B were being discussed by the Banking Laws Review Commission, which was actively engaged in formulating a draft law which would replace the Banking Companies Act.
4. 162. The Committee takes note of this information and requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress made in respect of the law amending the Banking Companies Act. It further deplores that the Government provided no reply to the complainant’s latest communications.
5. 163. While noting that section 27-B of the Banking Companies Act is under review, the Committee recalls from the previous examination of the case that while according to the Government, the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO) 2002 took precedence over the Banking Companies Act and that, therefore, 25 per cent of the trade union office bearers could be elected among persons who were not employees of the banking company in question, this assertion was contested before the high court and the management of the UBL in Sargodha refused to negotiate with the union and one of the reasons it had invoked was that the president of the union was not an employee of the bank. On that occasion, the Committee considered that where difficulties with regard to the interpretation of rules concerning the election of trade union officers created situations where the employers refused to negotiate with the union concerned and, more in general, to recognize such a union, problems of compatibility with Convention No. 87 arose [see 338th Report, para. 273]. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take all necessary measures so as to ensure, in practice, that trade unions can carry out their activities in the banking sector, including the right to elect their representatives in full freedom and the right to collective bargaining. More specifically, it urges the Government to take all necessary measures so as to ensure that the UBL employees’ unions can negotiate the terms and conditions of employment of its members with the managers of the UBL branches concerned and keep it informed in this respect. It further requests the Government to keep it informed of the decision taken by the high court in respect of the prevalence of the IRO over the Bank Companies Act.
6. 164. As concerns the alleged cases of dismissal, the Committee urges the Government, as it already did in its previous report [see 338th Report, para. 274] to conduct an independent inquiry to thoroughly and promptly consider the allegations of anti-union dismissals at the UBL and to ensure that appropriate measures are taken in response to any conclusions reached in relation to these allegations of anti-union discrimination. The Committee expects the Government to ensure that, if it appears that the dismissals occurred as a result of involvement by the workers concerned in the activities of a union, those workers are reinstated in their jobs without loss of pay. If the independent inquiry finds that reinstatement is not possible, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that adequate compensation, so as to constitute sufficiently dissuasive sanctions, is paid to the workers. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this regard.