Collective bargaining: ILO to help organise AJK trade unions

Federation’s Secretary General Zahoor Awan explains the importance of collective bargaining to the visiting delegates

ISLAMABAD: International Labour Organisation (ILO) will develop a plan for promotion of trade unions in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) said ILO Senior Programme Officer Saad Gilani at a capacity building workshop for trade unions held in collaboration with Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) in Mirpur.

Federation’s Secretary General Zahoor Awan explained the importance of collective bargaining to the visiting delegates. The workshop helped Trade Union representatives understand the international standards on freedom of association and collective bargaining in context of ILO Conventions 87 and 98.

The workshop discussed prospects for formation of a state-level federation of trade unions, capacity of trade union leadership, sustainability of trade unions and alliance of AJK trade union federation with Pakistan and international trade bodies.

More than 60 delegates from 11 trade unions of AJK participated in the workshop. The AJK labour department also contributed towards this workshop. As per official record, there are 1,970 industrial units and six small and micro-industrial estates in the 10 districts of AJK.

ILO’s Gilani explained that in late 2016, the AJK government notified a State Tripartite Consultative Committee (STCC) to formally engage with trade unions and employers and chart out a process for promoting decent work conditions in the state.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2017.