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The Committee notes the Government's report of 12 June 1993 and the communication from the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU) of 11 October 1993. The Committee also notes the discussion which took place at the Conference Committee in 1993, which eventually led to a direct contacts mission between a representative of the Director-General and the Government which took place from 15 to 22 January 1994.

The Committee's previous observations referred to discrepancies between the national legislation and the Convention on the following points:

- ban on trade union membership and activities for employees of the Pakistan Television Corporation and the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation;

- denial of the rights guaranteed by the Convention for workers in export processing zones (section 25 of the Export Processing Zones Authority Ordinance, 1980, and section 4 of the Export Processing Zone (Control of Employment) Rules, 1982);

- exclusion of public servants of Grade 16 and above from the scope of the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 (section 2(viii) (special provision));

- restrictions on recourse to strikes (sections 32(2) and 33(1) of the Ordinance);

- prohibition on minority unions from representing their members in relation to individual grievances;

- comments from the PNFTU alleging the artificial promotion of union activists as an anti-union tactic;

- denial of the right to form trade unions for employees in public and private sector hospitals.

The Committee takes note of the report of the direct contacts mission, during which all these issues were discussed with the authorities and the various workers' and employers' organizations. It further notes that the Government wishes to continue receiving technical assistance from the Office on these matters.

The Committee also notes that a tripartite task force was established recently, with a wide mandate on labour and industrial relations issues. The Committee hopes that this initiative, together with the recommendations of the direct contacts mission will soon lead to substantial progress on the above-mentioned issues, for which the Office may provide technical assistance.