Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by a new bill that was illegally passed by the government in Pakistan in order to drag the country’s workers into conditions of slavery. The so-called Finance Bill is an unconstitutional law that severely undermines basic labour rights and flies against the basic principles for protection of workers that have been established by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) over nearly a century. The ILO and international community should strongly condemn and oppose this bill and call for its immediate withdrawal.
On June 21 the National Assembly of Pakistan illegally removed a swathe of basic workers’ rights under the cover of the annual Finance Bill, with effect from July 1.
The Finance Bill is supposed to establish the annual budget, with approval from both houses of parliament, in accordance with article 70 of the constitution. It is not intended to change or amend any other laws.
But the 2006 Finance Bill was used to illegally introduce amendments to five key laws that were passed over the years to protect workers from exploitation:
1. Factories Act 1934: Provisions to bar females from working in factories before sunrise and after sunset under sections 38 and 45 have been amended; employers may now force them to work two shifts at a time, up to 10pm.
2. Shops & Establishment Ordinance 1969: Daily working hours have been increased from eight to 12 hours. The compulsory weekly holiday has been abolished.
3. West Pakistan Industrial & Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance 1968: A new category of “contract worker” has been added to the ordinance. These workers will not be entitled to compensation for overtime. In addition, the ceiling on overtime has been raised from 150 hours to 624 hours a year for adults and from 100 hours to 468 hours for juveniles.
4 & 5. Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance 1971 & Employees’ Old-age Benefits (EOBI) Act 1976: The scope of both the Workers Welfare Fund and EOBI has also been restricted. Registration with the EOBI will from now on be compulsory only for establishments employing 20 or more workers, a hugely regressive step that will drastically curtail its applicability and deprive millions of workers of their fundamental rights.
Incredibly, this bill was passed by the National Assembly without even a debate. Then, in a blatantly illegal action it was adopted without being submitted to the Senate.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
In a functioning system of justice and democracy it would be possible for this patently illegal law to be challenged in the courts. However, the military rulers of Pakistan have never shown any regard to legality or constitutionalism, and nor have the country’s judges and politicians ever shown the capacity to stand up to them. Therefore it is unlikely that there is any possibility that purely domestic protest will overcome this odious new law. For that reason, strong action from the ILO, international trade unions and other concerned agencies and persons is essential.
For a recent article on the compliance of Pakistan’s judiciary with the orders of the military see: The doctrine of necessity and Pakistan’s poodle judiciary, by Baseer Naveed.
See also the AHRC statement on the new bill: AS-160-2005.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the ILO representative in Pakistan and other relevant persons to express your concern at the illegality and indecency of this bill, and the consequences for millions of already poorly-paid, overworked and badly-protected workers in Pakistan. Please urge the ILO to work for the withdrawal of this bill and the improvement of working conditions and wages in the country.
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To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Unconstitutional & illegal Finance Bill opens the door to slave labour and should be repealed
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the Finance Bill that the government of Pakistan brought into effect on 1 July 2006, which appears aimed at demolishing the limited rights that had been available at least on paper to millions of workers in the country.
As far as I am aware, both the procedure and substance of this bill are unconstitutional and illegal.
To begin with, article 70 of the Constitution of Pakistan requires a law to be approved by both houses of parliament. However, in this case the bill was passed by the National Assembly and never forwarded to the Senate.
Furthermore, the Finance Bill is not for the purpose of amending other laws; it is simply to set the national budget. However, under this guise the bill was used to remove workers’ rights contained in a raft of laws, including the Factories Act 1934; Shops & Establishment Ordinance 1969; West Pakistan Industrial & Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance 1968; Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance 1971; and the Employees’ Old-age Benefits (EOBI) Act 1976. As a consequence, working hours and overtime can be increased; compulsory holidays abolished; women and children overworked; compensation for overtime removed; and the number of companies obliged to give welfare and old-age benefits drastically reduced.
In short, the law removes legal defences, increases working time, reduces earnings and exposes women and children to greater exploitation. It will spread poverty, worsen health and intensify mental and social disorder in a society that is already suffering intensely from a multitude of pressures and conflicts.
I believe that apart from being patently illegal under domestic law, the bill flies in the face of international law, in particular, the charter of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), for instance, the eight-hour-day and 48-hour-week established under ILO Convention No. 1 in 1911.
With this bill, the government of Pakistan is clearly intent upon taking its citizens back to a time long before 1911. It is apparently hoping to take them back centuries, to a time when there was no notion of workers’ rights or laws to protect them.
I therefore request your urgent intervention to see that this odious law is repealed and a new Finance Bill introduced, debated and passed through both houses of parliament in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan. I expect that the ILO and international trade unions will be taking up these issues with the government of Pakistan and working towards the improvement, rather than deterioration, of the rights and welfare of workers there, in accordance with the ILO Charter and international law.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
Mr. Donglin Li
Director
ILO Country Office, Pakistan
ILO Building, G-5/2
Adjacent to State Bank of Pakistan
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 2276456-8
Fax: +92 51 2279181-2
E-mail: islamabad@ilo.org
PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR LETTER TO:
1. Ms Leyla Tegmo-Reddy
Director
ILO Subregional Office
Theatre Court, 3rd Floor
India Habitat Centre
Lodi Road
New Delhi 110 003
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 24 60 2101
Fax: +91 11 24 60 2111
E-mail: sro-del@ilodel.org.in
2. Mr. Juan Sumavia
Director General
ILO
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneve 22
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 799 6026
Fax: +41 22 799 8533
E-mail: cabinet@ilo.org
3. Mr. Jim Baker
Director, Bureau for Workers’ Activities
ILO
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneve 22
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 799 7292
Fax: +41 22 799 6570
E-mail: baker@ilo.org or actrav@ilo.org
4. General Pervez Musharraf
President
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
Email: (please see – http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx)
5. Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Khan
Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis
c/o Malik Asif Hayat
Secretary, Labour & Manpower Division
5th Floor, B Block
Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9210077
Fax: +92 920 6283/ 920 3462
E-mail: minister@molm.gov.pk, secretary@molm.gov.pk
6. Mr. Muhammad Wasi Zafar
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
S Block
Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 920 2628
E-Mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk
7. Justice Iftekhar Choudhry
Chief Justice
Supreme Court
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 921 3452
8. Mr. John Ruggie
Special Representative on transnational corporations and other business enterprises
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)
E-mail: : urgent-action@ohchr.org
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
