Karachi: Employers Federation of Pakistan(EFP), outright rejects all the four handpicked employer nominees on SESSI Governing Body.
These employers have been “nominated” by Commissioner SESSI which in itself a travesty of justice, said Ismail Suttar, the president of Employers Federation of Pakistan.
In a statement on Thursday, EFP president said that the Governing Body monitors and controls the activities of SESSI and ensures that SESSI works diligently and in a transparent manner. The Commissioner reports to the GB and it is ironic that he himself blatantly and unilaterally nominated employer representatives. This is a mala fide intent on the part of Commissioner because Section 5 of Sindh Employees Social Security Act 2016 does not empower the Commissioner to recommend nominations.
He said that it seems that the Commissioner is dancing to the tune of the Sindh Labor Minister and Secretary because he is well aware that EFP nominees have always safeguarded the funds that are contributed by employers for the benefit and welfare of the workers and ensured that corruption was minimized.
Mr. Suttar while showing his disgust on the shenanigans adopted by the vested interests in SESSI and in the Labor Department added that with each passing day, the Labor Department is further mired in corruption, nepotism, wastage of resources, mismanagement and abuse of power. He alleged that the so-called employer nominees are so busy being on various Committees and Boards plus their own businesses, that they do not have time to attend SESSI meetings and are not concerned in monitoring SESSI activities.
“The Governing Boards of SESSI, Sindh EOBI, Sindh Workers Welfare Fund and the Sindh Minimum Wages, were restructured after Amendments approved by Sindh Assembly. EFP President had proposed the restructuring at the Sindh Tripartite Labor Conference in December 2017, where the EFP proposal was unanimously approved by representatives of all three stakeholders, namely, government, workers and employers”, he added
EFP president moreover added that it is only EFP, the apex body of manufacturers, which is a constituent of ILO and a signatory to the ILO decent work agenda. The Sindh labor department has openly violated ILO convention 144 relating to tripartite consultation on international labor standards.
“It is apparent that while EFP always plays an active and positive role in all tripartite consultations, the corrupt and vested interests in Labor Department are maneuvering to sideline EFP and unilaterally fill in employer nominees in all four boards, all of them who would be yes-men, sycophants, and would endorse whatever the corrupt and unscrupulous officers of these boards presents to them. These four boards are headed for imminent disaster much to the disadvantage of workers and employers”, he pointed out
