SWABI, Dec 20: Labourers have to work in an exploitative environment in the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate as there is no authority to keep a check on employees. They told this correspondent that out of the 450 units established in the Gadoon estate, about 25 were working round the clock. “The remaining units have been closed down and machinery of a majority of them shifted to other attractive industrial zones in the country.”

The sources said the labourers were forced to work for 12 hours a day and that too in very hostile environment.

According to the labour laws, no worker could be forced to work for more than eight hours and if he wants to continue working for overtime, he must get extra payment.

“If a worker reaches a factory a few minutes late than the scheduled time, he is told to return,” a worker said and added: “We spend about Rs20 to 25 to reach here.”

The sources said the workers were not allowed to establish unions and if an industrialist got information about an attempt to form a union, those leading the move were immediately sacked.

In some cases, the sources said, if a group of workers succeeded in forming a union, its leaders were bribed and thus prevented from working for the workers’ rights.

The sources said the Gadoon workers were denied weekly off days and holiday. “This is like daily-wages system and a worker is paid for only those days on which he is present at his unit.”

A majority of the workers, the sources said, got Rs2,500 to Rs3,000 per month and if the government announced an increase in the salary of workers, it was not paid to the Gadoon workers.