KARACHI, Oct 20: Federal minister for labour, manpower and overseas Pakistanis, Omar Asghar Khan, on Saturday, said the government would hold a national labour conference on informal sector in Islamabad by the end of the year.

Speaking at a meeting of the representatives of labour unions of informal industries and commercial establishments at the head office of the Employees Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI) here, he said that before the national conference provincial tripartite meetings would be held in each province to formulate provincial reports.

“We want to address workers’ problems in the informal sector that were earlier neglected because of absence of laws and regulations,” said Omar Asghar Khan.

The representatives of small units’ unions would be invited to present their provincial reports and discuss other issues being faced by them in the informal sector.

He said the majority of workers were employed in the informal sector and due to non-implementation of the laws, they were suffering. Now for implementation of labour laws, the government would set up committees at the district level.

He said that government had already formulated laws for the benefit of workers, working in small units, powerlooms, fisheries, fruits and vegetable markets, garments and hosiery industries, shops and restaurants.

He said the cabinet had already approved the minimum wages for workers and an ordinance in this regard would be issued soon, and added that the provinces would separately issue industry-specific minimum wages for workers in their respective provinces.

He said the minimum wages ordinance would be enforced from August 1 and all industries would be required to pay arrears to their employees accordingly.

He said the employees of small units of five and more workers could get benefits of social security. Earlier that limit was 50 employees in an organisation, He said the units with 10 or more than 10 workers could opt for registration of their employees with EOBI.

He said that minimum wages would be revised after every three years instead of nine years and wages would be fixed according to the indexation formula based on production and earnings of the industry.

The federal labour minister said that the government would start an awareness campaign to inform workers and their representatives about the latest amendments in labour laws. For this purpose, electronic media would be used to educate workers. Posters and handbills would also be distributed.

Agreeing that there were problems in implementation of new laws for informal sector, he said that it was the duty of the provincial labour department, trade unions and other official agencies to monitor the implementation of these laws.

Speaking on the occasion, chairman of the Pakistan Fisher- folk Forum, Muhammad Ali Shah, said that fishermen of the country were not properly paid as their working conditions were different from the workers in the formal sector.

He pointed out that many Pakistani fishermen were arrested by Indian security agencies in the open seas and they were kept in jails for five to eight years.

Another labour leader of fruits and vegetable market workers pointed out that the workers at Sabzi Mandi were exploited by the shop-keepers and middlemen and had no job security.

A female representative of a garments and hosiery workers association pointed out that women workers were forced to work in industries at night, which was against the labour laws.

Speaking on the occasion, labour secretary of Sindh, Raja M. Abbas said that due to shortage of staff, the department found it difficult to cater to the needs of all industries in the province. However, he said, despite shortage of staff, the labour department was providing facilities to workers.

He said the department had sent letters to all district coordination officers (DCOs) in the province to set up district labour committees under the chairmanship of district Nazims to monitor proper implementation of labour laws.

Wage Award: Federal minister for labour, manpower and overseas Pakistanis, Omer Asghar Khan, said here on Saturday that the government would soon issue notification of 7th Wage Board Award.

Talking to APP after a meeting with the representatives of trade unions of informal and unorganised sectors here, Omer Asghar Khan hoped that after issuance of the notification, the newspapers industry would implement the award.— APP