Labour courts to be established in Sindh

In order to safeguard the rights of labourers in Sindh, the chief minister will establish courts to hear their cases

KARACHI: The Sindh government will establish labour courts in each division of Sindh to hear the cases of workers and will convene a South Asian conference on labour issues this year.

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah made this announcement on Thursday at a Labour Day ceremony at CM House. A labour task force was also being formed in order to implement labour laws in the province and committees will be constituted to frame the labour policy, he said. "The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government, being labour-friendly, will build schools, technical institutes, hospitals and dispensaries in each labour colony in the province," he said. "Workers, their children and families will be given free treatment and education," he said, adding that five top students from schools in each labour colony will be awarded scholarships to complete their higher education abroad.

Regarding labour inspections in factories, the chief minister referred to the Baldia factory incident where many workers perished, and said, "We cannot afford to repeat that incident, which is why the government is going to strengthen labour inspections in factories."

Shah also promised to implement a minimum wage of Rs10,000 for the workers and said a task force, comprising both men and women, will be formed to enforce the government decision.  Speaking about the Sindh government's shares in the Workers Welfare Fund and the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution, Shah said that Sindh's share is greater than any other province.

"During each Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting, I raise this point to get our due share, but the federal government is not willing to release the amount," he said, adding that after the 18th Amendment, both of these institutions should be handed over to the provinces.

Earlier, PPP vice-president Sherry Rehman and Chaudhry Manzoor Ali of the Peoples Labour Bureau Pakistan also addressed the gathering that was attended by a large number of PPP labour unions.

Ali said the day was being observed to commemorate the sacrifices of the Chicago martyrs. "Those workers who were holding white flags in their hands were demanding that eight-hour duties be fixed in factories, but state machinery turned the white flags red with their blood," he said, adding that PPP leader Benazir Bhutto had planned to end anti-worker policies, which was achieved in the last PPP tenure.

He said the PML-N government was bent upon privatising public institutions at throwaway prices, but the PPP will not let it do so. "No decision can be made without the consent of the Sindh government. I request the chief minister to take up this issue in every CCI meeting by opposing the privatisation policy that is an anti-labour policy," he said.

Ali added that the federal government had sold the Heavy Mechanical Complex to a company that did not even have a bank account, let alone an office. "The PML-N government has minted money in billions of rupees that is why it hands over the government-run profitable institutions to their kith and kin," said Ali. He said that around 169 government institutions, including banks, PTCL and K-Electric, had been privatised, which had resulted in high levels of unemployment as these private companies fired many existing employees.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2015.