KARACHI: The screening of Aisha Gazdar’s documentary Beyond Survival: The Struggle for Dignified Work produced by Film d’ Art in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the European Union brought to light the very important issue of paying workers a living wage instead of a minimum wage, which is no longer enough for making two ends meet.
The 13-minute documentary provided a glimpse into the hardships of factory workers, contractual employees, skilled and unskilled workers and formal and informal workers.
Shazia, a factory worker, quickly prepares breakfast for her children before rushing off to work at 7.30am. She works without any break till lunch time at 1.30pm following which it is back to work until evening. By the time she reaches home around 9pm, her children are asleep. And in exchange for this hectic life where she can’t even enjoy time with her family, she is makes Rs32,000 a month, that too, if she does not take a day off even if she is sick. If she did that or took weekends off, it is Rs26,000.
Farah, another factory worker, who makes Rs35,000 a month, leads a similar existence.
Even worse than them is contractual worker Khair Mohammad’s life. He works in a talcum powder factory where labour is supplied through a third-party contractual system. Khair Mohammad makes only Rs20,000 a month for hard labour where working hours are long and without any lunch or tea breaks, and no overtime allowance, bonuses or registration with the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution.
There are a few foreign companies that do pay their workers living wages but they are only like a drop in the ocean.
About the documentary, filmmaker Aisha Gazdar said that she thought of making it last year when the HRCP started their campaign on paying workers a living wage. “It is a realistic need to fulfil normal requirements,” she said.
Economist and senior researcher Dr Asad Sayeed pointed out that there is a big difference between the minimum wage and living wage as the latter is estimated at Rs75,000. “And this difference will continue to grow with inflation,” he said. “When you are getting less than a living wage then you have to make choices such as whether to eat or pay utility bills, fulfil the nutritional needs of your children or send them to school? Housing and transportation are also to be considered here,” he added.
It is a matter of human rights and the worker is also a human being, the documentary reminded. It also pointed out that the country can carry on dreaming about prospering economically but that is not going to happen if you don’t pay your labour force its due.
Later, during a discussion, which followed the screening, human rights activist and trade unionist Nasir Mansoor said that around 95 per cent of employers don’t pay their workers a living wage. “They usually make them work 12 hours a day and pay them around Rs21,000,” he said. “And sadly, this is a normal practice internationally even though all may agree that it should be mandatory to pay the worker his or her due. And yet they don’t practice or implement what they say,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, trade unionist Zehra Khan pointed out that most of the labour force in Pakistan does not even get paid the minimum salary, what to cry about a living salary? She also said that the system for calculating the wages for skilled or unskilled workers needed to be revisited and revised.
Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025
