Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2007, publiée 97ème session CIT (2008)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report, received on 8 November 2007, contains no information responding to its previous observation or to the matters raised by the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) in its communications of 25 November 2006 and 2 May 2007, forwarded by the Office to the Government on 1 March 2007 and 19 June 2007, respectively.

According to the abovementioned organization, the Government of the two largest provinces of the country, namely Sindh and Punjab, have no system for supervising application of the legislation. On the contrary, they apply a policy prohibiting the inspection of an industry for one year following its establishment, thus endangering the workers in the event of breach of the occupational safety and health prescriptions applying to high-risk activities, although the State has prime responsibility for applying these prescriptions. In its communication received in May 2007, the above organization states that although the Government is required by Articles 11, 12 and 38 of the Constitution to abolish child, bonded and forced labour and to ensure, in accordance with Convention No. 81, safe working conditions by establishing independent labour inspection machinery, in the two abovementioned provinces, inspectors may not enter a workplace without prior permission from the employer or prior service of notice on the employer. This has made the labour laws redundant and allowed the employers to exploit the workers. Citing a draft labour inspection policy developed by the Government to restore independent labour inspection machinery in order to enforce fundamental rights of workers in letter and in spirit, the abovementioned organization requests that they be enforced by statutory laws.

The Committee notes in this connection that in March 2006, the Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis published a document on labour inspection policy setting out new approaches to inspection. It also notes with interest that a tripartite workshop organized jointly with the ILO on “Revitalizing Labour Inspections System in Punjab” was held on 22 and 23 August 2007 at Lahore. In the course of the workshop, various issues were addressed including the Government’s labour inspection policy and the implementation of the ILO/IPEC project. The Committee hopes that the Government will not fail to provide the information it requested in its observation of 2005 and to inform the ILO of its position on each of the points raised by the Pakistan Workers Federation, so that the Committee can examine them together with the report. The Government is also asked to specify how it gives effect in law and in practice, including in the area of child labour, to the new approach to labour inspection, the main objectives of which are, according to the Government’s representative in his speech to the workshop:

–           flexible, transparent, fair and innovative approaches to labour inspection;

–           extension of inspection activities in both formal and informal sectors;

–           involvement of private sector in provision of labour inspection services;

–           compliance with labour policies and laws;

–           increased harmony and cooperation between workers and managers.

The Committee hopes that the Government will do its utmost to take the necessary steps in the very near future.