PILDAT, in collaboration with the Solidarity Center, arranged a Briefing Session for the members and staff of the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at Hotel Avari, Lahore. Briefing was given by Mr. Karamat Ali, Executive Director, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research � PILER, Karachi, Mr. Iftikhar Mehmood Randhawa, Chairman, WEBCOP, Punjab Chapter, Lahore; Chaudhary Talib Nawaz, President, All Pakistan Federation of Labour, Lahore and Mr. Zarar Haider, Director Labour, Punjab also spoke on various aspects of the subject of the briefing. Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director PILDAT explained the significance of the subject and its relevance to Provincial Legislators. Mr. Qindeel Shujaat, representative of the Solidarity Centre was also present on the occasion. A lively Question/Answer session followed the briefings. The main thrust of the briefings was to identify major Labour Issues in Pakistan and to list the needs for legislative action to be taken by members of Punjab Assembly.

Mr. Karamat Ali presented an overview of the current Labour Policy and State of Labour in Pakistan. He said that labour is �concurrent subject� in the constitution of Pakistan but unluckily the most neglected one. He also said that old labour laws were detailed and all the rules were included but the new laws are brief which allows the unelected bureaucracy to frame the rules of its choice. He told that only 2.4 per cent of the workforce is organized and in the current system of contractor ship, labour is deprived of a lot of benefits which were their right. At the end he said that legislators should be active in proposing new legislations for the welfare of labour.

Mr. Iftikhar Mehmood Randhawa introduced Workers Employers Bilateral Council Of Pakistan � WEBCOP. He stressed that if both workers and employers are not happy business can not grow.

Chaudhry Talib Nawaz highlighted the large segment of the labour force in the informal sector that is outside the field of organized labour. He also said that Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam was also the President of Postal Employee Union India for several years.

Mr. Zarar Haider presented the Government view on the Labour Issues and listed the actions Government is taking to address these issues.

The participants included MPAs Syeda Bushra Nawaz Gardezi (PML), Ms. Parveen Masud Bhatti (PML-N), Ms. Shehnaz Saleem (PML-N), Mr. Javed Ahmad (PML), Muhammad Riaz Shahid (PPPP), Ms. Tahira Munir (MMA), Ms. Zaib-un-Nisa Qureshi (MMA), Rana Aftab Ahmed (PPPP), Syed Hassan Murtaza (PPPP), Mr. Saeed Ahmed, Secretary, Punjab Assembly, Mr. Inayat ullah Lak, Director Research, Punjab Assembly, Mr. Maqsood Ahmed, Additional Secretary, Punjab Assembly, Mr. I. H. Rashid former President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and other staff from the Assembly Secretariat.