BRUSSELS, Jan 23: The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has accused Pakistan of a “brazen flouting of every core labour convention.”

In a statement to the press on Tuesday, the ICFTU said that despite having ratified seven of the eight international conventions on core labour standards and receiving more favourable treatment under the European Union’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) due to efforts to combat illegal drugs, “the situation for workers in Pakistan remains as abominable as ever.”

The ICFTU evaluation report, released to coincide with a World Trade Organisation policy review of Pakistan being conducted in Geneva on Jan 23 and 25, said Pakistan was flouting key labour standards in a range of sectors.

“All the core labour standards have been violated massively and flagrantly, in defiance of international condemnation, for many years. Far-reaching and determined measures must be taken to comply with the commitments Pakistan has undertaken,” the ICFTU said.

The international labour group said that it had conducted its investigation into Pakistan’s labour policies with the cooperation of the Pakistan Federation of Labour (APFOL), the All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions (APFTU) and the Pakistan National Federation of Trade Unions (PNFTU), encompassing a combined workforce of 930,000 people.

Several classes of workers are excluded from protection by the provisions of labour law in Pakistan, and numerous classes of employment are inappropriately defined as essential services, thereby depriving those workers the right to collective bargaining or to strike, the ICFTU said.

Also, workers in export processing zones cannot form trade unions, the report said.

The study warned that “employers often strongly resist unionisation of their employees, resorting to intimidation, dismissal and blacklisting in order to fight attempts by workers to exercise their right to form a union.”

This had occurred to workers trying to organise trade unions in Sialkot, the location of the soccer-ball stitching and surgical instrument production that has become synonymous with child labour problems,” the labour agency said.

Pakistan has ratified the four core ILO labour conventions on discrimination and forced labour but problems remain just as vivid as ever, the ICFTU complained.

“Discrimination against women is a serious problem, endemic in Pakistani society due in part to greatly limited access to education for women. In some rural areas female literacy rates are as low as two per cent. This complete lack of formal education for the vast majority of Pakistani girls results in de facto discrimination in access to employment,” the report added.

The ICFTU also warned that forced labour by children continues to be widespread in Pakistan. Trade union studies found 200,000 families in bonded labour in the brick kiln industry alone.

The report added that trafficking in persons is also a serious problem in Pakistan, including the trafficking of children. Some reports suggest that over 100 women are trafficked into Pakistan from Bangladesh each day, and sold for the purposes of prostitution or other forms of forced labour.

“There are estimated to be several hundred thousand such trafficked women in Pakistan, with some reports suggesting that the total number is up to 1.2 million. Estimates of the number of child prostitutes in Pakistan vary, but most suggest around 40,000,” the ICFTU said.

The ICFTU warned that it would keep a close watch on Pakistan’s labour conduct over the coming years.

Approximately five million children are currently working in Pakistan, the labour group said, adding that other estimates put the figure at ten million.

The ICFTU said Pakistan must take wide-ranging measures across the board to genuinely implement core labour standards and said the WTO must work to ensure such improvements were actually made.

“The situation for the majority of workers in Pakistan is dire, and without concerted efforts on behalf of the government of Pakistan and pressure from the international community, the prospects for the future are pessimistic,” the ICFTU concluded.