HARIPUR, June 20: At least 644 cases of violation of labour laws by industrial units in Hattar estate have been referred to the labour court by the department concerned, official sources told Dawn on Monday. The violations mostly relate to minimum wages, occupational safety and health and issuance of appointment letters to workers under the Standing Order and Factories Act 1934, the sources added.

In view of increasing complaints, assistant inspector factories Abdullah Khan paid a visit to industries during the month of April and filed 133 cases of violation of labour laws against the administrations of a number of units.

In many cases, the official found that workers were not being paid in accordance with the minimum wages ordinance, most went without appointment letters and without being vaccinated against seasonal maladies. The mandatory requirement of providing occupational safety during work was also widely ignored, sources at the office of deputy director labour told this correspondent.

In May, 35 cases were registered for violation of the Factories Act and 117 for breach of the Minimum Wages Ordinance. Of them, 52 were decided and fine imposed on the erring entrepreneurs.

In June, 187 cases have so far been referred to the labour court under the factories act and 172 under the standing order.

Replying to a question, official sources said that efforts were afoot to ensure implementation of labour laws in the Hattar units but workers’ often uncooperative attitude constituted an obstacle. Whenever contacted to know about the state of implementation of labour laws, they gave tepid response, the sources complained.

The paltry amount of fine represented another impediment, they said. “Under the factories act, we cannot impose more than Rs500 as fine on violators,” they added, and went on to suggest that severer punishment and heavier fine should be slapped in order to protect the rights of the blue collar community.

During a visit to certain industrial concerns, it was noticed that workers, especially women, were forced to work beyond eight hours without being compensated for the extra work. Their holidays, according to some insiders, were also not paid for.

About wages, a worker said on condition of anonymity that he was being paid Rs2000 for nine hours’ work while the government-fixed minimum wage was Rs2500. That has further been increased to Rs3000 recently.

In the Hattar industrial estate, 135 units are currently in operation out of the total 235. The 100 units, which stand closed, had remained operational for a brief period after completion of their infrastructure.

Many investors abandoned their units by defaulting on bank loans to the tune of billions of rupees.

There are 26 textile units, 13 chemical, six oil mills, 15 pharmaceutical industries, 14 packages units, 11 paper/wood/chip industries, 14 marble units, three ceramic units, 15 engineering, 9 steel mills, three plastic manufacturers and 13 miscellaneous.