IR Laws: Govt to call a special NA session

ISLAMABAD:

The government will call a special session of the National Assembly to pass the Industrial Relations Laws before the ordinance lapses next month, said PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira.

“All issues with the Industrial Relations Laws will be sorted out before laps of the ordinance on March 17,” Kaira said at a seminar organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) on the need for a federal mandate on Industrial Relation Laws.

If passed, the law will facilitate smooth resolutions of employer-labour tensions by offering an inclusive framework for meaningful engagement of the labour with the economy. It will also guarantee labour its due right and equitably accommodate the government, the employers and the labour force.

Pakistan Workers Federation General secretary Zahoor Awan said that issues of trade unionism, collective bargaining, workers’ participation in management, and the harmonious resolution of employment disputes should be addressed by federal legislation.

He said that after abolition of concurrent list and approval of 18th amendment, all provincial assemblies should pass their own industrial relation act.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2012.