1. Chairman’s Message
The twin A&D - advocacy and dialogue - are the important instruments of the civil society and NGOs seeking a change and improvement in the areas of their respective work.
During my work at the Ministry of Labor and Manpower as Chairman, Policy Planning Cell (PPC) for three years, I realized the importance of the "twin” in garnering support for policy development work as well as seeking feedback.
On completion of my work, I found importance of the "twin” highlighted further but now from a civil society perspective. Whereas advocacy, among others, is needed with regard to the effective implementation of policies and consequent preparation of concrete programs and action plans for the National Policies, such as: Employment, Emigration, Labor Inspection, Labor Protection, etc. with a special focus on gender mainstreaming. The dialogue is needed for a universal coverage of social protection, classification/simplification of labor laws, improving working conditions especially of home-based workers and informal economy (sector) workers, etc.
Looking around, I found almost an absence of a dedicated civil society organization on A&D with exclusive focus on employment and labor market issues. Thus, feeling a need and also acting upon the advice and feedback from friendly organizations, I was happy to establish CLAD in March 2009 with major focus on: employment, working conditions, occupational safety and health, gender mainstreaming, reforms of labour laws, home-based workers, workers in the informal economy, universal access to social protection and governance of labour market institutions.
I sincerely hope that with the continued support of friendly organizations, I would be able to lead the CLAD in delivering its stated goals.
2. Report on Activities
The activities of the CLAD in the first quarter of its establishment comprised of acting as resource persons in seminars & other discussion events, building partnerships with other organizations, writing research papers for friendly organizations, and indeed managing the logistical needs of a newly formed institution. The areas covered ranged from: migration to labor laws for home based women workers, causes and impact of global financial crisis, access to justice, labor market developments, economic literacy for young trade unionists.
Migration
Whereas, the Colombo Process (CP) is an important development in terms of providing a platform to the labor sending - and gradually also to labor receiving countries - to interact on variety of issues related to the process of migration, the concern nonetheless in the process relates to the absence of trade unions and civil society.
Consequently, a working group on the CP was formed that held in its first meeting in the month of April in Sri Lanka. The meeting mainly focused on ways and means to strengthen the participation and contribution of the civil society in the deliberations of the CP, develop an understanding of the work of the participating organizations from South and East Asia, and agree upon a common work plan. The major conclusion, in addition to seeking participation, related to advance lobby and advocacy for developing migration policies by the labor sending countries whereby a framework is established on the whole process of migration for each of the source country.
A study tour of Asian countries trade union and workers’ rights activists was organized by the Solidarity Centre through its representation in Kuwait in June. The members were from India, Jordan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Kuwait Trade Union Federation (KTUF) acted as the local host. The visit
provided an important opportunity to the members of delegation not only to have fruitful interactions but to understand: i) each other’s programs and initiatives for the protection of migrant workers as well as ensuring safe migration, ii) the initiatives taken and being taken by the KTUF with regard to the protection of migrant workers, and iii) importantly, the plight of migrant workers particularly the “domestic maids”.
Policy on Home Based Women Workers (HBWWs)
The Homenet-Pakistan organized advocacy workshop on the “Implementation Process of National Policy for HBWWs” in the month of May in Lahore. CLAD acted as one of the resource persons and made a presentation on “Existing Labor Laws: Expected HBWWs Policy Impact”.
The main focus of the presentation was: i) existing labor laws ignore majority of working women and men, ii) a host of activities in the formal sector are exempted from application of labor laws, and iii) HBWWs do not appear on the “radar screen”, hence concrete action plans on reforms & fine tuning of labor laws are needed.
Access to Justice for Workers
Two-day “Exchange on Core Labor Standards” for the Judiciary was organized by the Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) and Sindh Judicial Academy in the month of June in Karachi. The CLAD acted as one of the resource persons and made a presentation on “Core Labor Standards in the Context of Globalization and Decent Work”.
CLAD also prepared for the LHRLA a toolkit on: “International Labor Standards: Obligations and Enforcement Mechanism”. This was used as a source document for the event.
Global Economic Crisis
The CLAD addressed a seminar on “Global Economic Crisis: Reasons, Impact, Bailout and Crisis Prevention Measures”. The event was organized by the International Islamic University in the month of May in Islamabad.
Some important observations were: i) half-backed and ad-hoc measures are avoided, ii) affirmative actions should take place on reform of international financial architecture, iii) a fair and transparent international debt arbitration and bankruptcy process is established, iv) social priorities are integrated in emphasis on economic recovery & bail out, v) caution is exercised on liberalization of services and especially financial sector, v) regulatory bodies are participatory and transparent.
Employment and HRD
The CLAD addressed a PWF/ILO organized seminar on “Impact of International Crisis and Challenges Concerning the World of Work” in the month of May in Lahore.
The CLAD presentation on: “Towards Economic Recovery: Employment and HRD-led Economic Revival” stressed on centrality of employment and poverty reduction in economic reviving and sustaining economic growth. In this regard, raising productivity and vocational competence has to be market based and private sector led.
Building Capacity of Young Trade Unionists
The CLAD acted as a main resource person for the Solidarity Centre 5-day training program on: “Raising Economic Literacy of Young Trade Unionists”.
3 Activities Planned
The CLAD plans to undertake work on: i) establishing a working group on “decent work”, ii) developing an “alternate dispute settlement mechanism”, iii) building trade union capacity especially with regard to unions dues collection and organizing, iv) demonstration of rights based generation or productive employment, v) establishment of a core group on international financial institutions’ (IFIs) polices and programs, decent work, vi) encouraging graduate students through stipends/scholarships to work any aspect related to industrial relations, unions and labor laws, and vii) building a network of concerned organizations on employment and labor market related issues, and viii) developing a mechanism for protecting rights of migrant workers and their families as well as effective reintegration of returning migration, and ix) establishing Asian Centre for Labour Advocacy and Dialogue.
4. Visitors to CLAD
The CLAD was pleased to receive the following distinguished visitors:
1: Mr. Khurshid Ahmad, General Secretary, Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF).
2: Mr. M. Zahoor Awan, Dy General Secretary, (PWF).
3: Mr. Zia Ahmed Awan, President, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA).
4: Mr. Iftikharullah Babar, Additional Secretary, Senate of Pakistan
5: Dr. Zafar Mueen Nasir, Chief of Research, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)
6: The World Bank team led by Lead Economist Mr. Edgardo Favaro.
7: Mr. Ejaz Mohyuddin, Sr Joint Secretary (retd), M/O Labor & Manpower.
8: Raja Khalique Ahmad Khan Sr Joint Secretary (retd), M/O Labor & Manpower.
9: Mr. Immad Ashraf, Program Officer, American Solidarity Centre.
10: Mr. Fayyaz A. Malik, Deputy Chief, Labor & Manpower Division, Government of Pakistan.
NEWSLETTER
April-June 2009
Volume 1
Issue 1
1. Chairman’s Message (Dr. Sabur Ghayur)
2. Report on Activities
3. Activities Planned
4. Visitors to CLAD
Centre for Labour Advocacy and Dialogue (CLAD)
61, B-07, Justice Arcade, Near Islamabad High Court, I&T Centre, G-10/4, Islamabad
Tel: 0092-51-2224022
Website:
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