KARACHI – “Employers Federation of Pakistan will monitor and evaluate the performance of nominated employers on the Tripartite Labor Consultative Committee established in the 12 industrial estates of Sindh. EFP will also ensure that the decisions of these Committees are implemented in letter and spirit by the Sindh Labor Department and its Zonal and Regional Offices”. This was assured by Majyd Aziz, President EFP, at the first joint meeting of all 12 Committees chaired by Mr Saeed Ghani, Sindh Minister for Labor and Human Resource Development.
Majyd Aziz also pledged to remove any employer nominee if that person is not performing or not attending the meetings of the Committees. He also said that EFP is a strong adherent of Social Dialogue and has always advocated resolution of labor issues through a meaningful dialogue with the workers. He further said that the priority is protection of jobs and the ideal way is for the Federal and Provincial Governments to ensure that the prevalent jobs are protected before any creation of new jobs.
Majyd Aziz insisted that the EFP members are compliant with the payment of minimum wages, labor standards, and contribution to labor welfare funds. However, he said that if any direct compliant against any member is received in the 12 Committees, then EFP will use its moral authority to motivate such employers who violate the law or standards. He advised the leaders of workers federations to motivate their labor unions to resolve their issues either at the plant level or through the Tripartite Committee of their respective industrial estate.
Majyd Aziz proposed that industrial and commercial enterprises should consider moving their offices and industries to the rural areas and that this would create economic activity in rural areas. He advised the Minister to discuss with the Chief Minister to create an enabling environment for enterprises to shift to rural areas where the value of land is considerably less than Karachi or Hyderabad.
Majyd Aziz, while talking about the Labor Inspection, informed the meeting that when one of the provinces of Pakistan issued a circular to ban labor inspection, EFP was the first organization to oppose such unilateral decisions that contravene the ILO International Standards and which could impact negatively on the EU GSP Plus facility accorded to Pakistan. EFP has proposed making fundamental changes in the present labor inspection system through an initiative of reforms in the labor inspection system. He offered the services of EFP in formulating reforms that are in conformity with modern industry operations and that are not violative of ILO International Standards.
Khawaja Muhammad Nauman, Director EFP, in his remarks highlighted the role of EFP in maintaining industrial peace through a sustained social dialogue mechanism. He added that the performance of EFP in closely working with labor leaders is acknowledged by all Tripartite Stakeholders. He complimented the Minister for spearheading the setting up of Tripartite Consultative Committees in each of the 12 industrial estates of Sindh.
The meeting was attended by a sizable representation of employers, workers, and government officials from all over Sindh.
