Discrimination at work
THE International Labour Organization (ILO)’s latest report on discrimination in the workplace is perhaps the most comprehensive global study of its kind. Released on Saturday, the report focuses on the ways in which certain sections of the population across the globe are singled out for unfair treatment in the sphere of employment simply because of their race, gender, minority status, political beliefs or religion. According to the report, entitled ‘Time for Equality at Work’, discrimination in the workplace is “rampant” across the world. While the more blatant forms of discrimination are less common today, they have been replaced by more “subtle, less visible and more insidious” practices. The effect of either form of discrimination, however, is the same: to bar people from employment or advancement simply because of factors other than their competence and qualifications.
Across the board, women seem to be at a particular disadvantage. They are often paid less despite having the same qualifications and skills as men and are less likely to move up the career ladder. What is interesting is that the “equality gap” persists even in many advanced countries where there have been concerted efforts to fight discrimination through legislation and policy measures. The more subtle forms of discrimination, the report claims, are far more difficult to tackle than more blatant ones. The report mentions how it is now unacceptable in most countries to place job advertisements requiring candidates of a particular ethnic group or gender. However, while laws may prohibit such discrimination, there is no way of judging whether an organization follows an unofficial policy of filtering out certain types of candidates. Ethnic and religious minorities, women, disabled people and those who are HIV-positive are all vulnerable to such policies, according to the report. The study claims that aggressive anti-discrimination policies have achieved impressive results in certain parts of the world. It singles out Europe, North America, India and post-apartheid South Africa for praise on this front.
While Europe and North America have placed tough anti-discrimination legislation on the statute books, India and South Africa too have enforced laws that support affirmative action in favour of deprived groups. In India, there are quotas for the lower castes in jobs and education which have shown good results. In South Africa, the majority black population too has benefited from such affirmative action vis-a-vis the white minority. While lauding such policies, the report claims that positive discrimination can have a positive effect, but such measures alone are not sufficient to eliminate discrimination. Such action needs to be complemented by other social policy measures. The report also argues that following an equal opportunity policy is not just good for society but that it is also good for profitability and social stability. It cites studies that show that companies following such policies are far more productive than those that have no such policy. The report concludes that a failure to tackle growing social and economic inequalities at the workplace represents a criminal waste of human talent and resources which could have “disastrous consequences for national social cohesion, political stability and hence growth.” The ILO study is a path-breaking study that should be compulsory reading for policy-makers all over the world. While the study shows that eliminating all forms of discrimination is not an easy task, it shows how certain policies can at least help reduce the growing “equality gap”.
Riyadh bombings
MONDAY night’s suicide bombings in the Saudi capital targeting American nationals brought back memories of the 1996 bombing of a US military base in Dhahran that killed 19 people. This time, the terrorists struck at four different, mainly American, targets. The blasts have left dozens dead, including several Americans, and many more injured. The US intelligence agencies had warned of such strikes by Al Qaeda on May 1, as thousands of US military personnel based in Saudi Arabia were being relocated to Qatar. The suicide bombings seem to confirm the fears expressed by most independent analysts that the US’s unilateralist approach to combating terrorism and its emerging Middle East policy will likely bring more violence and terrorism to the region. That the suicide attacks took place in Saudi Arabia which saw a cooling off of relations with the United States in the aftermath of 9/11, points to the mounting anger and resentment in that country against emerging American designs to reshape the Middle East according to their own lights.
The suicide bombers struck just hours before Colin Powell was due in Riyadh to apprise the Saudis of the latest US-backed Middle East peace initiative. The visit makes little sense at this time, and should have taken place before the Americans embarked on the task of reshaping a ‘new’ Middle East in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s ouster from power. As for the Palestine-Israel peace initiative, Mr Powell apparently left Tel Aviv empty-handed and unable to convince Ariel Sharon of the need for Israel to fulfil its obligations under the new plan. Arabs have long seen the Americans’ failure to pressure the Israelis sufficiently as a lack of will on the part of Washington more than anything else. The perception views the US as a willing party to the Israeli state terrorism being perpetrated on the Palestinians. America’s unilateralist policy in Iraq adds further to the anti-US feelings in the Arab world threatening the stability of the entire region. The latest suicide bombings in Riyadh show that the US might have won the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq, but these ‘victories’ have moved it further away from winning the war on terror. And Washington only has its arrogant unilateralism to thank for it.
Conserving Mayo Hospital
LAHORE has a large number of colonial-era buildings in Pakistan that can rival the finest specimens of Victorian architecture in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Most of these have been put to good public use after independence, in that government offices, state-owned institutions, schools, colleges, hospitals, libraries, etc., have continued to function, or new ones have been set up in these buildings. Mayo Hospital is one such Victorian edifice in Lahore, which is protected by the Antiquities Act of 1975, but the responsibility of the building’s upkeep rests with the hospital authorities. Reports say that the building’s clock tower is in an advanced stage of decay owing to disrepair and the changes made over the years to accommodate modern hospital services. This calls for urgent attention.
The clock tower is rapidly decaying because of the vibrations caused by a lift operating in the shaft under it. The lift was installed in the 1940s but in spite of its obsolescent state and the noise it causes, the hospital authorities saw no reason to replace it with a modern machine free of the problem of vibration. However, now the time has come when such a step has become unavoidable. The authorities concerned should have the damage done to the clock tower repaired and ensure that the patients are not inconvenienced by the removal of the lift facility. Alternatively, a lift can be installed at some other point in the same building where it will not cause damage to the structure of the protected monument.