It was on 14th January, 2009 when the Employers' Federation of Pakistan (EFP) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) took the initiative of convening the first National Industrial Relations Conference with the theme of 'Making Industrial Relations System Productive'.
This was the first ever effort made by the private sector to convene a meeting of tripartite constituents in industrial relations who gathered under one roof and discussed their collective need for quick resolution of labour issues in order to boost industrial productivity. It was in this Conference when the then Federal Secretary of Labour and Manpower announced that the Government would hold a Tripartite Labour Conference in February 2009 to discuss various issues relating to industrial relations and laws by inviting all the stakeholders.
The history could clearly be seen to be repeating itself when the Employers' Federation of Pakistan has taken the bold initiative of convening the first National Industrial Relations and Provincial Tripartite Labour Convention after devolution of labour to the provinces as a result of the 18th Constitutional Amendment in the year 2010. This time also the successfully held Tripartite Labour Convention attended by over 200 delegates drawn from the tripartite constituents of the ILO have demanded Provincial tripartite Labour Conferences for devising employment, productivity and welfare oriented labour policies to guide the growth of industrial sector. This National Conference has gone a step forward this time and the employers and workers have jointly presented a draft proposal for the Labour Policy Guideline which contains sixteen points on which there is a complete unanimity of employers and workers. If these policy guidelines are adopted at the provincial levels as integral part of our national and provincial labour policies, this will undoubtedly be a giant step towards providing both employers and workers a level playing ground to grow and furnish economically and socially. We wish and pray for the best results.