KARACHI, April 16: Speakers at a seminar on Friday stressed that the benefits and facilities that were available to workers in other sectors be made available to workers employed in housing and construction sector.

They were speaking at the seminar on "Integration of informal construction workers into trade unionism in context of social dialogue initiative" which was organized by the All-Pakistan Trade Unions Congress.

Federal Housing and Works Minister Syed Safwanullah, Brussels-based World Federation of Building Workers vice president Bismo Sanyoto, labour leader S. P. Lodhi, Shouket Ali, S. M. Kaleem Maki, Ehsanullah Khan, A. Mateen Shaikh, Ijaz Malik and others also spoke.

The minister said that the government was committed to accelerate the development process and special attention was being given to housing and construction sectors. He said that the informal sector workers in the field of construction need to be included in the mainstream safety net and he suggested that a dialogue on the issue be organized at the Worker-Employers Bilateral Council (WEBCOP) level.

Mr Sanyoto, referring to the WEBCOP, said that this kind industrial relations system model should be studied in other parts of the world and seen if it could be adopted there keeping in view their conditions.

Other speakers said that though the construction sector accounted for one-10th of the world's GDP and provided around seven per cent of employment, the workers in this sector faced many difficulties, like absence of health facilities, lack of safety measures, their employment was temporary, and they did not have social security, and they were not even governed under industrial relations laws.

They regretted that the construction sector was still not being recognized as a formal industry and was thus being deprived of various concessions that were available to other sectors. They also recommended special levy on builders to generate necessary resources for training and skill building for construction workers.