• Families slam govt for allowing demolition of factory building without settling legal dues
• Call for ensuring implementation of occupational health, safety law to make workplaces safer
• Over 260 labourers killed in blaze 12 years ago remembered

KARACHI: Rights activists, members of the civil society and families of those killed in the 2012 Baldia Town factory fire gathered at the site of the industrial unit to pay tribute to over 260 slain workers on the 12th anniversary of the one of the worst industrial disasters in the country at a memorial held on Wednesday.

The event was organised jointly by the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), the Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees Association and the Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF).

Veteran labour leader Habibuddin Junaidi presided over the gathering, during which the families of the victims lit candles in front of the photographs of their loved ones.

Speaking on the occasion, chairperson of the Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees Association Hasna Khatoon condemned the Sindh government for allowing the factory building to be demolished without settling legal dues such as group insurance and gratuity payments.

The families demanded that the factory be converted into a worker training centre in memory of the slain workers, rather than being demolished.

NTUF general secretary Nasir Mansoor remarked that even after 12 years since the worst industrial tragedy in Pakistan, workers’ lives in factories remained unsafe.

He said that frequent industrial accidents demonstrated that the government, factory owners, and international brands prioritised profits over workers’ lives.

He also highlighted that as a result of the long struggle by the victims’ families and labour organisations, a settlement was reached where around $6 million was allocated as long-term compensation by the German brand ‘KiK’.

However, the ILO invested that amount in an insurance company without consulting the victims or labour unions, which was a clear violation of democratic and transparency principles, he said, adding that no consultations were held with the families or labour organisations regarding the investment agreement between the ILO and the insurance company.

HBWWF general secretary Zahra Khan noted that the struggle of the Baldia tragedy’s victims and labour unions not only resulted in compensation to the families but also played a key role in legislation in the German and European parliaments to hold brands accountable for labour and human rights violations.

This same struggle also led to the signing of the “Pakistan Accord,” under which over 500 factories and 500,000 workers were now covered with a health and safety programme, she said.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt stated that Pakistan remained among the top violators of human and labour rights. The constitutional right to form unions had become obsolete. He stressed the need for a unified action plan to ensure democratic freedoms and better working conditions in factories.

The participants demanded an apology from German brand ‘KiK’ to the families of the 260 labourers killed in the incident and called for ensuring implementation of the Occupational Health & Safety (OSH) law to make workplaces safer.

They demanded that all international brands, including German ones, must stop violations of labour laws in factories they sourced from.

They also demanded that the ILO must make public its insurance deal, which was made without consulting the victims or labour representatives, and restore the oversight committee.

Gul Rahman, Riaz Abbasi, Qamarul Hassan, Haider Abbas, Aqib Hussain, Muhammad Siddiq and others also spoke.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024