labor watch - Labour Watch Pakistan

Solidarity Center - Pakistan
LABOR WATCH
Issue 1 - Recap of 2008
This is an anecdotal compilation of labor issues that confront the labor movement and the working men
and women in Pakistan. It is intended to help bring understanding and increased awareness of the
plight and progress of workers and their unions and the policies and events that affect their
lives and livelihood.
The Solidarity Center acknowledges the vital role that the Pakistani electronic and print media plays in highlighting the
problems of workers. The Solidarity Center dedicates this newsletter to all the journalists that devote their time and energi es in
an effort to bring some respite to the repressed and downtrodden fellow workers of their country.
Major Current Events
New Industrial Relations Act passed amidst strong opposition
from labor unions and opposition benches
The Industrial Relations Act 2008 (IRA 2008) was unanimously passed by the
Senate of Pakistan on September 4, 2008, and by the National Assembly on
November 19, 2008 amidst strong opposition and walkout from the PML-N, the
leading opposition party at that time. The President of Pakistan gave his assent to
the Act on December 14, 2008. The interim Act aims to consolidate and
rationalize the law relating to the formation of trade unions and improvement of
relations between employers and workers and will remain in force until April
2010, unless repealed earlier.
The Government claimed that the bill was aimed at bringing labor laws in line
with provisions of ratified international conventions as some provisions of the law
it will replace are non-compliant with the Conventions. However it has been
strongly criticized by the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) and the Workers
Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan (WEBCOP). They opine that it was
drafted without the input of stakeholders in any part of the process and also
excluded some of the positive aspects of the preceding IRO-2002 while the
modifications and amendments made may prove detrimental for workers and their
rights. The PWF also claims that the Act was passed ignoring all inputs from labor
organizations through the consultative process when the IRO-2002 legislation was
being prepared. According to PWF and WEBCOP, the Peoples Party, as part of
the opposition then, had supported their positions but ignored them completely
this time. For further information on PWF‟s position and perspective, please
contact Mr. Zahoor Awan, Deputy General Secretary & Chairman Steering
Committee of PWF. Email: npr@pwf.org.pk
In the light of dissatisfaction with the Act expressed by many stakeholders, it is
strongly recommended that the government must convene Pakistan Tripartite
Labor Conference and get on board the views and aspirations of workers and
employers. Click here for more details.
New employment policy approved
The government has approved a National Employment Policy that seeks to create
one million jobs every year in industrial, agricultural, housing and construction
sectors, says a senior government official. “We have also recommended in the new
policy the creation of „model pilot‟ employment schemes in Sindh and Balochistan
to offer jobs to unemployed youths,” the chairman of the Policy Planning Cell of
the Ministry of Labor, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Dr Ghayur Sabur, told
Dawn. The Preface of the policy acknowledges the support provided by the
Solidarity Center in the consultative process. Click here for more details.
Teacher’s struggle continue for revival of associations
Two years after a ban was slapped on teachers‟ associations in Sindh, educators in
Pakistan‟s second largest province are still struggling for revival of their
representative organizations and urging the new government to lift this ban
imposed on teachers‟ organizations by the previous government and withdraw the
appeal filed in the Supreme Court against the Sindh High Court‟s decision that
went in the favor of teachers‟ associations.
Through this ban, more than 400,000 teachers of Sindh province were deprived of
their fundamental rights of association and assembly as well as the freedom of
expression, opinion and speech. Teachers organized peaceful protests at a large
scale despite harsh treatment received from the administration. During the protest
against imposing the ban on 22 August 2006, about 50 teachers were arrested and
a dozen others were injured by the police who attacked protesters with tear gas and
batons. Alongside waging their struggle through peaceful protests, teachers took
their cause to the Sindh High Court. The Sindh High Court on 11 Dec 2006, ruled
against the provincial government's ban on all activities carried out by teacher
unions. The Court declared the government's ban "unlawful and of no legal
effect". However, the Sindh government challenged the Sindh High Court‟s
decision in the Supreme Court and succeeded in getting a stay order from the
Supreme Court against the High Court‟s judgment.
KESC sacks more than 3,500 employees
Karachi Electric Supply Corporation has sacked more than 3,500 temporary
employees, mocking the Prime Minister‟s announcement that employees working
on daily wages will be provided permanent employment. According to a report by
the Nation, these workers were hired through a contracting firm on exploitative
rates (3-4 thousand rupees a month) and most of them had been working for the
company for several years and their contracts had been renewed from time to time.
KESC said they were employees of the contracting company and not of KESC.
Click here for more details.
PPP plans mass export of skilled Pakistanis
The Pakistan People‟s Party (PPP) government will arrange road shows in four
Middle Eastern countries this year to export a quarter million skilled Pakistanis in
the next two to three years. In an exclusive chat with The News, NAVTEC
Chairman Adnan A Khawaja said that the government had brought major changes
in the policy of the commission. “The PPP government plans to ensure export of
one to two million workers during its five-year tenure,” he said. Click here for
more details.
The government of Saudi Arabia imposes ban on issuing visa to
illiterate labor force
Saudi Arabia has issued new laws for import of labor force under which the
workers going to Saudi Arabia should be able to read and write in their own
language. It can be reminded here that during the last three decades much of the
development work in the Kingdom was carried out by illiterate laborers from
South Asia. Click here for more details.
Plan to revive labor inspections
The Punjab government has decided to restore labor inspections suspended by
former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi through an executive order in 2003. According
to a report by Dawn, Punjab Labour and Human Resource Minister Muhammad
Ashraf Sohna said this at a meeting with industrialists, labor leaders, and social
security and International Labour Organization (ILO) representatives here on
Tuesday. Country Director of ILO in Pakistan, Donglin Li lauded the decision of
Punjab government to restore labor inspections in the province that were
suspended a few years ago under industrial policy 2003. Click here for more
details.
Ministry to maintain data on labor
Ministry of Labor and Manpower has worked out a plan to modernize data on
national workforce by introducing a comprehensive database, Daily Times
reported. “Having studied the systems in developed countries for maintaining
information on their workforce and their utility, and given the market‟s
requirements, the ministry had started work to introduce such measures,” an
official told the paper. Click here for more details.
Struggles and Problems Faced by Unions
Minimum Salary: Defiant factory owners face music
The Punjab government has ordered the labor department to take action against
those factory owners who were not paying Rs 6,000 minimum salary to their
workers.
The Punjab government has also has directed all the district labor officers to
prepare lists of factories in their respective areas and send details to the
department by the end of this month. It is pertinent to mention that the government
had fixed Rs 6,000 as minimum salary for employees.
Denial of minimum wage leads to industrial unrest in
Faisalabad
The new government announced in March 2008 to raise minimum wage for
unskilled workers to Rs. 6,000 per month from a dismally low rate of PKR 4,000
per month. While this raise is not available to workers in the informal sector
because they are out of the ambit of most laws, even sections of the formal sector
are reluctant to pay the minimum wage to their workers. The textile industry,
marred by financial and marketing problems, is particularly unwilling to
implement the new wages. It led to some serious incidents of industrial unrest in
Faisalabad, the center of Pakistan‟s textile industry. Click here for more details.
Workers pledge to block privatization of Qadirpur field
Apprehending loss of jobs, hundreds of employees assembled in front of the gates
of Qadirpur gas field on September 21 with a pledge to resist the government‟s
privatization plan. The protesters, including women and children, blocked the
main gates of the field which they said was harnessed by their blood and consisted
of their villages and agricultural fields sacrificed for the development the major
gas field of the country. The protesters, led by labor leaders Ilmuddin and Agha
Shahid, gathered in front of the main gate of Qadirpur gas field, while shouting
slogans against the government. Click here for more details.
WAPDA workers observe protest day against price hike
Hundreds of WAPDA workers observed a “protest day” against the price hike
under the aegis of the Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Central Labor Union here
on September 10. The workers took out large processions in all the major cities of
the country, including Quetta, Hyderabad, Multan, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Sialkot,
Gujrat, Faisalabad, Mardan, and Peshawar. In Lahore, the workers started their
protest from Bakhtiar Labor Hall while carrying national flags. They also chanted
slogans against the unprecedented price hike of the daily use items. The protest
was headed by Khurshid Ahmed, who was accompanied by Malik Noor
Muhammad, Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, Chaudhry Sultan, Muhammad Shoaib and
many other representatives of the union. Click here for more details.
Highlights and Success of Labor Unions
PTCL accepts workers’ demands; strike ends
Protracted tussle between the Pakistan Telecommunication Company and its
employees ended when the management accepted the latter‟s demands. Soon after
the management‟s decision, the PTCL United Workers Alliance called off its
nationwide strike that had disrupted phone service and rendered more than half a
million fixed line connections non-functional. The management issued
notifications to regularize contractual employees on the New Compensation Pay
Grade (NCPG) and increase the salaries by 35 per cent. Click here for more
details.
Issue Oriented Topics (Gender, Child Labor, and
Bonded Labor, etc.)
Bonded labor documentaries
Please find below links to documentaries produced by the Interactive Resource
Center (IRC), a respected and professional NGO here in Pakistan. They produce
excellent documentaries, such as the two below, and use other innovative venues
and methods to help raise the awareness of social issues in Pakistan. The
Solidarity Center believes that you will find these videos most informative and
useful in understanding the concept and reality of bonded labor in Pakistan.
Bonded Labor Part 1
Bonded Labor Part 2
Court frees 18 bonded laborers
Police recovered 18 bonded laborers, including children and women, on the orders
of district and sessions judge who was directed by the Sindh High Court‟s
Hyderabad circuit bench to ensure recovery of laborers. Khaan police raided the
lands of Khuda Bux Mahar in Deh 70 village of Jam Nawaz Ali Taluka and
recovered Paro, Babri, Kewal, Jairam, Parkash, Ms Haryan, Ms Ganga, Ms Sirti,
Saroop, Ramesh and others. Police produced them before the judge who set them
at liberty. Click here for more details.
Free laborers lead rally
Six bonded laborers who took refuge at an HRCP camp for liberated peasants after
escaping from illegal confinement at the lands of an influential landlord led a rally
of rights activists on September 13, demanding protection and safe recovery of the
rest of bonded laborers. Click here for more details.
Women development in South Asia linked with empowerment of
Home Based Workers
Women development in the South Asian region is directly related to
empowerment of Women Home-Based Workers (WHBW) because a majority of
working women in this area are home based. This was stated at the “South Asian
Regional Consultation on National Policy for Women Home-Based Workers”,
organized by Homenet, Pakistan. To recognize the hard work of WHBW at the
social and economic levels, they demanded that governments ratify C177 of
International Labour Organization. Click here for more details.
Female employees suffer due to absence of separate toilets
Highlighting issues related to lack of basic facilities for women in public sector
offices, the participants of a roundtable in Islamabad pointed out that female
employees had to suffer inconvenience due to absence of separate toilets for them.
According to a report by The News, participants said that even in key ministries
and government offices proper facilities did not exist. The participants said that
toilets in most offices were not properly marked indicating that they were for
women. Wherever the toilets were reserved for women, male employees freely use
that facility. To check this practice, toilets are kept locked. Click here for more
details.
Case Studies and Highlights of Working Men and
Women in Pakistan
Labor’s pain: Toil, tears and the story of Shamim
A dupatta (scarf), worth about Rs300 in the market, can take up to two whole
weeks to embroider but earns the craftswoman a paltry Rs20 or 30. Matchboxes
are filled for the grand price of Rs6 per 1,000. Learn more about the pitiful
conditions of Home Based Women Workers by clicking here.
Female Textile Workers Paid Peanuts
About 8,000 women working in textile and jute mills in Muzaffargarh district are
deprived of their basic rights of decent work for decent remuneration in an
environment considered conducive for various diseases. Click here for more
details.
Tales of Sorrow
Problems of working women of the Korangi industrial area in Karachi are myriad
especially those working in factories under adverse working conditions with no
social security cover, nor the right to organize. Click here for more details.
Any contributions, suggestions, comments or feedback are welcome from any labor union/federation/individual/organization and other interested parties. Please send them
via email to: laborwatch@solidaritycenter.org.pk
Disclaimer: This newsletter was produced by Mr. Zaigham Khan with the support of the Solidarity Center and the National Endowment for Democracy. The Author and the Solidarity Center have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the contents presen ted
herein and do not accept responsibility for any omission and error, as it is not deliberate.