Opinion 
 

Opinion

May Day

Retired employees have been receiving a paltry amount of Rs. 8,500 per month as pension from EOBI since January 2020. This amount would have been more than Rs. 20,000 per month now, if the Companies Profits (Workers’ Participation) Act had not been devolved to the provinces.

By Parvez Rahim | May 2023


The first of May is a national holiday in many countries across the world including Pakistan, on account of the “International Workers’ Day.” The United States and Canada celebrate the day on the first Monday of September. May Day is unique, as it is celebrated with great enthusiasm not only in the communist countries but also by the Western world.

The celebration of May Day reminds the world of the consistent struggle of workers to achieve the 8-hour workday as excessive working hours posed a danger to their health and well-being of their families. The demonstrations to this effect originated on April 21, 1856, in Australia, when the stonemasons in Victoria, went on a massive strike as part of the 8-hour workday movement.

Its’ yearly commemoration in Australia inspired the American workers to have their first general strike beginning on May 1, 1886, for the same cause. On May 4, the police acted to disperse the agitating public in support of the strike, when an unidentified person threw a bomb on the assembly. The retaliatory firing on workers by the police and the bomb explosion caused the death of 15 police officers and 115 protestors were injured. These events of May 1886 are called the Haymarket affair in Chicago.

The celebration of May Day every year, was formally recognized as an annual event at the international conference held in 1891. However, the workers’ demonstrations for the legal acceptance of 8-hour day work continued till these were formalized by the first convention issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1919. The convention also provided adequate rest periods and fixed the weekly working hours at 48. These worldwide limitations continue unchanged till now despite the passage of more than hundred years.

During the last more than 130 years, May Day has been celebrated both (a) to commemorate the social and economic achievements of workers or (b) to lodge strong protest against labour repression and demands for more rights, better wages, and benefits. The peak period of May Day celebrations in Pakistan from 1972 to 1977, belonged to the ‘b’ category of demonstrations, as is evident from the following facts:

In his election manifesto in 1970, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), the founder of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), had promised the industrial workers to ameliorate their lot, if brought into power. He committed to regularize them in jobs and bring improvement in their salaries, benefits, and education of children. Immediately prior to 1971, when ZAB took over the government, the contributions of Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Noor Khan, made towards the welfare of industrial workers, are highly appreciated by the leaders of labour federation till to date.

ZAB’s government made massive amendments in the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 by adding the forums of Joint Management Board and Management Committee besides the already existing successful forums of the Shop Stewards and the Works Council. The new forums granted equal rights to representatives of the Collective Bargaining Agent union, to manage and frame policies concerning the factory workers along with the organization’s management.

A martial law order was promulgated whereby workers dismissed from service after the general elections held on 7 December 1970, were to be reinstated in their respective jobs by the courts. In addition, Junior Labour Courts were constituted to decide the cases of workers’ unfair dismissal from service within 7 days.

The share of workers in their company’s profit, was increased from 2.5% to 5%. The 2% share of workers towards the monthly contribution of social security scheme, was abolished. The following three new labour welfare laws were enacted and promulgated; Workers’ Children (Education) Ordinance, 1972; Employees’ Cost of Living (Relief) Act, 1973 and the landmark Employees Old-Age Benefits Act, 1976. Another law i.e., Workers’ Welfare Fund Ordinance, 1971, also owes its origin to the rising awakening of workers about their rights in that era.


It is ironical that the rights given by ZAB in good faith and sincerity, to the labour unions to participate in the formulation of policies about the promotion in jobs and discipline of workers in an organization, led to unprecedented labour unrest and turbulence in the industrial areas across the country. In some instances, violent clashes between the police and the agitating workers had led to killing of people and extensive damage to and destruction of employers’ properties.

During the labour’s active period of ZAB’s rule, May Day would be celebrated by the labour federations with lots of vigour and enthusiasm to demonstrate the strength and unity of workers, to fight for their rights. Since then, the day is celebrated merely as a ritual, when demands for more wages and benefits are raised by the labour leaders and commitments made by the government officials, which are never fulfilled.

Over the last decades, the successive governments have been confronted with consistent struggle for their own survival. Under these circumstances, the herculean task of attending to resolving the challenging issues faced by the most crucial labour legislation, especially the labour welfare laws, has been put on the back burner.

The labour laws were devolved to provinces through the 18th Amendment in April 2010. Since then, three of the following leading labour laws have consistently faced various issues: Provincial Employees’ Social Security Ordinance, 1965; Companies’ Profits (Workers’ Participation) Act, 1968 and the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Act, 1976.

The employers’ and the government institutions formed to manage the schemes constituted under the above acts, have been engulfed in legal battles in the superior courts. As a consequence, the third stakeholder i.e., workers, have suffered financial losses after being deprived of their statutory rights.

Workers of industrial establishments have been getting share in their companies’ profits every year since the promulgation of the Companies Profits (Workers’ Participation) Act, 1968. After 2010, this act was not devolved by the provinces with the hope that its management might go back to the federal government. When this did not happen, it was belatedly devolved by Sindh in 2015, Punjab in 2021 and Balochistan in 2022. KP has yet to devolve the act. In the meantime, the workers could not get the due share in their respective companies’ profits.

Due to technical reasons, the issue of rate at which the monthly contribution on behalf of the insured employees is payable by the employers’ to EOBI, has remained under dispute in the superior courts over the last 13 years. At present, appeals by some of the employers before the Supreme Court are still pending adjudication. Currently, the employers are paying contribution to EOBI at rates varying from 6% of Rs. 3,000/- to 6% of Rs. 25,000/- per insured employee, which includes 1% of latter’s share.

Again, the wrath of this dispute has fallen on the retired employees, who have been receiving a paltry amount of Rs. 8,500 per month as pension from EOBI since January 2020. This amount of pension would have been more than Rs. 20,000 per month now, if this act had not been devolved to the provinces. The federal government is somehow reluctant to bring back EOBI within its fold through passing an amendment act by a simple majority in the parliament, thus settling this long-standing dispute between two of the stakeholders.

After protracted litigation, the matter of rate at which the monthly contribution is payable by the employers, to the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution, was resolved by the Supreme Court through its judgment dated March 11, 2021. It is now payable by the employers, at 6 % of the prevalent minimum wage, on behalf of every secured employee.

In view of the above-mentioned facts, a heavy responsibility rests with the leaders of labour federations that they should vigorously pursue their May Day resolves with the federal and respective provincial governments, till they are able to achieve the desired outcome. The more years they waste on account of their inaction, the more difficult it will continue to become to retrieve the damage done to workers’ cause.

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