Workers, employers, govt agree to mitigate coronavirus impacts on labour

KARACHI:Workers, employers and government have agreed to activate the tripartite mechanism in Sindh and provincial Labour Department has announced to convert its Joint Directors’ offices as labour complaint centres to receive grievances from workers in case the employers refuse to pay wages amid lock down as the government had earlier issued a notification in this regard.

Employers Federations of Pakistan (EFP) and various workers organizations based in Sindh after a series of deliberations through conference calls during the last few days have come up with the decision that offices of EFP, PILER and NTUF would also receive workers complaints for non-payment of wages.

The Secretary, Labour and Human Resources Department, government of Sindh Rasheed Ahmed Solangi assured that in case of any legal hitch in implementation of the earlier notification, the provincial government would issue an ordinance to ensure that all workers receive their wages or salaries for the entire period of lock down.

Those who also attended these online conferences included Chairman of the Sindh Tripartite Committee for Implementation of Labor Laws Zaki Ahmed Khan; Secretary of Employers Federation Fasihul Karim; Dr. Kaiser Bengali, senior economist; Syed Nazar Ali (EFP); Nazim F. Haji (employers representative), Karamat Ali, Executive Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER); Zulfiqar Shah (PILER); Habibuddin Junaidi, Peoples Labour Bureau; Nasir Mansoor, National Trade Union Federation; Ms. Zehra Khan, Home based Women Workers Federation and others.

They urge the employers in all categories to recognize the severity of the epidemic and conditions of the workers and comply on government order in letter and spirit. They resolved to stand in support of the further actions by the GoS and extend unconditional support during the crisis like situation if and when required.