Mapping Labour Unions in Pakistan The Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Government(1972-1977) initiated the separation of railway unions into open line and workshop sections. The elections in the open line first took place in 1981 in which the Jamat-e-Islami supported union won. There have been no elections after 1983. The open line was later declared as essential service, restricting its rights including those of calling a strike. As of now, the Mughlapura Workshop is registered as the CBA. Like other trade unionists, the leadership of the Railway Workers Union also believes that the system of CBA has caused a split among workers. Currently, there are five unions and 80 associations in railways. These unions and associations are divided on a political and ethnic basis. Manzoor Razi describes the ideology of the Railway Workers Union as that of left and democratic. The agenda of the union is to turn workers into a political force and achieve representation of workers in the Parliament. It also seeks to resist the privatisation of the Pakistan Railways. The leadership, however, admits to be struggling with its goals as neither workers are willing to undertake long struggle nor the employer, which is the state, willing to protect workers. Social media page: facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rwu.pakistan/ 3.23. Sindh Labour Federation The Sindh Labour Federation has 38 unions from the garments, engineering, pharmaceutical sectors. The Federation’s office is in Karachi. Its President is Shafeeq Ghauri, and Shaikh Majeed serves as General Secretary. The leadership has worked in the engineering and legal sectors and also with the PIA union. The Federation describes itself as left-oriented and progressive. It aims to facilitate access to workers rights, promote sensitisation of rights to the organisation and provide legal assistance to workers. Shafeeq Ghouri is also the co-chairperson of the Sindh chapter of WEBCOP. He is also a member of Sindh Tripartite Labour Standing Committee. Sindh Labour Federation engages SESSI regularly pointing our irregularities. SLF is a part of the Pakistan Workers Confederation(Awan Group). 54