Labour day being observed today amid hopes and frustration

Published May 1, 2016
SARGODHA: A labourer busy in work at Keryana Pahari on the eve of International Workers’ Day (also known Labour Day) on Saturday. The country’s total labour force is 60.09 million, with most employed in the informal sector. With no proper labour laws covering them, millions of these labourers are easy target for poverty and exploitation.—APP
SARGODHA: A labourer busy in work at Keryana Pahari on the eve of International Workers’ Day (also known Labour Day) on Saturday. The country’s total labour force is 60.09 million, with most employed in the informal sector. With no proper labour laws covering them, millions of these labourers are easy target for poverty and exploitation.—APP

KARACHI: Labour day is being observed in the country, and around the world, on Sunday to remind workers serving in all sectors of the economy that they are still the most powerful segment of society and need only unity among their ranks to attain their due rights.

However, labour unions across the country still appear frustrated complaining about lack of even a unified platform to wage a concerted struggle for the rights. They concede their failure in curbing rampant exploitation of workers by their employers everywhere in the country for various reasons, including constantly weakening labour unions.

It was on April 11 last year when 20 labourers were killed while working for a private construction company in Gokdan, about 15 kilometres from Turbat city in Balochistan. Most of the victims hailed from Sindh and Punjab who were busy working on an under-construction bridge over the Sorap stream. The responsibility of the killings was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). A couple of days later, security forces killed 13 insurgents believed to be involved in the incident.

There was the usual stream of condemnation of the attack on social networking sites which was also picked up by a few television channels but trade unions within Balochistan chose to remain silent. All Pakistan Labour Federation president Sultan Mohammad Khan, says they did not protest because “it could have jeopardised the lives of other labourers for sure. Remaining silent meant keeping space for dialogue and negotiation.”

When it comes to Balochistan, there is an ongoing tussle over the identity of the people who will soon be working at the Gwadar port which is aided in part by a Chinese company. “We can’t tell both sides — especially the dissenters — that hiring people from Sindh and Punjab is an eventuality as the project will need technical assistance. There’s no unified platform to discuss such issues, which is adding to the conflict,” Mr Khan added.

In Faisalabad, Labour Qaumi Movement (LQM) central secretary Aslam Mairaj was beaten up along with other trade union activists two years back for demanding social security cards for the power loom workers in the city. Today, the city’s 22,000 power loom workers have a social security card but still don’t get appointment letters on the day of induction. “Worse are the brick-kiln workers who get exploited the most. We are still working to solve their issues as well. The thing is there are a number of issues which can’t be solved in isolation, I believe,” adds Mr Mairaj.

Meanwhile, the minimum wage for unskilled labourers is still a disputed issue in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was in March last year when the Peshawar High Court suspended an earlier notification which decided the minimum wage of workers at Rs15,000 and asked the provincial government to set up a wage board (under the law). The case is still pending and the status of the minimum wage is still unconfirmed, says Hazara Labour Federation (Haripur) president Qamar Hayat.

In Karachi and Hyderabad, factory workers are fired without a mandatory notice as, like any other part of the country, they are not provided an appointment letter. Usually factory workers are hired on a contractual basis by a contractor, adds Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) executive director Karamat Ali.

One common thread in all of the issues discussed by the trade union activists is that there is no unified platform to air their grievances and that they work in pockets. What happened with the labourers in Balochistan, according to Mr Khan, could have easily been taken up by trade unions and labour rights activists in Sindh and other provinces. “Knowing our situation, the labour rights groups could have spoken about the compensation to be provided to the families of the killed labourers. But nothing happened,” he added.

Mr Mairaj, who was the driving force behind the issuance of social security card in Faisalabad, says there are many similar and major issues in Chiniot, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh that no one even knows about. “These issues are only raised on May 1 [Labour day] and after that nobody remembers labourers. Having a centralised system in place would help a lot,” he added.

Karamat Ali, whose organisation keeps in touch with other similar forums all over the country, believes that “trade unions will remain isolated as there is no unity of purpose. Also, we need proper company-specific labour unions to speak to each other. And from where I stand, I don’t see it happening any time soon.”

Cracks occurred after the Trade Union Act of 1926 was repealed by President Gen Ayub Khan in 1959, says Mr Ali. “For 10 years later, there remained no law. Then the Industrial Relations Ordinance was introduced in 1969; 75 per cent of the labourers were excluded from its purview,” he added.

Explaining further, he said that the textile sector was the more organised in the 1970s. “But every government, whether military or civilian, made it sure to weaken trade unions further. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown, there were 1.2 million [trade] union members; by the end of the Gen Ziaul Haq era, only 300,000 remained,” he added.

At present, there are 7,000 trade unions in Pakistan, adds Karamat Ali, but within these unions, there are only 1,500 that have the advantage of collective bargaining. The 7,000 unions are also divided and this multiplicity creates a scattered voice and not a unified one.”

Mr Mairaj iterated the same when he added: “With so many voices, it becomes easy for exploiters to take advantage of the disunity and cause further division. One would hear a lot of rhetoric about unity but for that to happen, you need to speak from a unified platform and not through different camps.”

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2016

Opinion

Editorial

Afghan turbulence
Updated 19 Mar, 2024

Afghan turbulence

RELATIONS between the newly formed government and Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers have begun on an...
In disarray
19 Mar, 2024

In disarray

IT is clear that there is some bad blood within the PTI’s ranks. Ever since the PTI lost a key battle over ...
Festering wound
19 Mar, 2024

Festering wound

PROTESTS unfolded once more in Gwadar, this time against the alleged enforced disappearances of two young men, who...
Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...