LAHORE: Representatives of home-based workers (HBWs) on Tuesday demanded legal protection on the eve of the International Home-Based Workers Day.

The Labour Education Foundation and government departments organised a consultation on the rights of HBWs and the need for legal protection.

A large number of HBWs, civil society organizations, and government representatives attended the consultation.

According to data, 20 million HBWs are in Pakistan, and of them, 71 percent (two-third) are women. They are piece-rate workers involved in manufacturing and post-manufacturing tasks such as garment stitching, embroidery, knitting, carpet weaving, and handlooms, woodwork, shoe making, bangle making, fruit and vegetable processing and packaging. Mostly they work for international brands through the factories producing items for such brands.

HBWs Union members said they were poorly remunerated and the situation of occupational health and safety was alarming.

They said women were paid less from their male counterparts for the same amount of work and they did not have access to government social protection mechanism provided to other workers in the formal sector of the economy.

They said such a dismal situation prevailed because of the absence of law for HBWs in Punjab and was resulted in not recognizing them as workers.

The representative of the Human Rights and Minority Affair Department, Punjab Treaty Implementation Cell and Women’s Development Department highlighted the initiatives of the Punjab government for HBWs.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2020