ISLAMABAD, June 19: Textile workers, particularly women, are getting the lowest wages in Pakistan besides having no protection of job as only two percent workers have appointment letters while the rest are working on a daily basis.

There are two kinds of wages for the workers - both female and male - in the textile sector: daily wages or piece rate and fixed salary which on an average only two percent workers per factory are getting. The government has exempted this sector from whole taxes besides giving it other perks and privileges at the cost of the labourers.

This was the consensus of majority speakers at a seminar on textile policy organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Monday.

Pakistan Textile Workers Union secretary general Sohail Raza said workers in the garment and textile sector were getting an average of Rs2,500 to Rs3,500 salary.

He said only 19 per cent employees were receiving Rs4,500 per month salary. While in other sectors, the salary stood at Rs2,500 per month. He questioned the government’s claims that the current raise in minimum wages would benefit the unskilled workers in the country.

The industry owners also denied workers appointment letters, depriving them of health benefits, social security and EOBI, etc. He stressed that existing laws should be implemented in letter and spirit.

Mr Raza said the government was announcing facilities for the textile owners while it was silent on the pathetic condition of workers, particularly women, in the sector.

He said the clothing industry was most important sector as it involved 35-38 percent of the total labour force of the country. Unfortunately, this large proportion of the labour force has been the net loser in many ways.

The participants observed that productive labour was the need of the hour. Pakistan’s industrial sector can only progress and contribute to economic growth when the concerns and issues of formal and informal sector workers were well protected.

Aliya Khan, Associate Professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University, said employment and labour issues were very important for the country in an era of export in which the government had committed itself to both export-led as well as job-led growth.

She said the labour protection law had been worked out, which according to her, would provide due protection to the rights of the workers.

Ms Khan said the draft law would shortly be sent to the cabinet for approval. To reduce the employee-employer gap, she said, the government was specifically focusing on skill development, improvement of working conditions and provision of occupational health safety. She said no progress on this front was likely to bring any fruit unless public-private partnership was established and strengthened.

Joint secretary ministry of textile industry Tipu Mahabat Khan said his ministry was formulating a textile policy for the first time.