It is not an inaccurate characterisation to say that the enduring power loom sector earned the moniker “Manchester of Pakistan” for Faisalabad after decades of strenuous efforts. However, this sector is in a precarious situation and grappling with surging operational costs, unbridled utility charges and increase in labour wages.
Thousands of power looms are working in different areas of the district, including Ghulam Mohammad Abad, Faizabad, Saman Abad, Nisar Colony and Sidhar. However, about 50 per cent factories have been closed down, rendering thousands of workers jobless.
Forced by this dire situation, the workers have to perform the tasks, which are beyond their working domain.
Nadeem, a worker, told Daily Times that “we have been cleaning the looms, lifting the heavy loads, oiling the machines and even cleaning the premises only to avoid our retrenchment.” In reality, he said a helper rather than a machine-man performs such jobs. “In the past, we had been staging protests against such approaches being employed by the factory owners. But now we are quite content with what we have to do as the power loom sector is facing a crisis and employers tend to show the door to the workers going against their wishes.”
Nadeem admitted that the power loom sector was facing a crisis, but it didn’t mean factory owners should exploit workers’ rights. He said nobody was ready to lend an ear to the workers’ issues, who were not getting salaries as per the government policy.
However, factory owners insist they have increased the wages as per the government instructions.
Akram, a power loom factory owner, who wishes his name not to be mentioned in full, fearing the “wrath” of workers, said despite a crisis-like situation, they were trying to keep their units running for the “workers’ sake.” He said millions of rupees investment was on the line owing to the indifferent attitude of the government.
Akram said though Pakistan was facing a myriad of issues, the approach and behaviour of the bureaucracy had not changed. He alleged factory owners had to grease the palms of the government officials to get their issues resolved.
Responding to the allegations of the power loom factory owner, an official of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) told Daily Times that it’s very easy to level allegations against anyone. He said the factory owners must submit an application for action if any official forced them to pay bribes.
Pressed to tell why the factory owners did not lodge complaints against the Fesco officials demanding bribes from them, Akram said complaining against the power company’s officials meant they might face problems in smoothing running of their units.
He said to “avoid further issues”, they had no option but to bribe the power company officials. “We are already facing the issues of high prices of electricity, surge in workers’ wages and high cost of raw materials, and in these circumstances, we don’t want to go against the officials, who are ‘facilitating’ us after a bargain,” the power loom owner commented.
Meanwhile, like the power loom workers and owners, the fabric traders are also in a difficult situation as their profits are dwindling.
Sohail Ahmed, a fabric dealer in the yarn market, told Daily Times that they used to sell excess quantities of fabric to exporters and local traders. However, he said now only exporters were contacting them occasionally for such lots.
Ahmed said like the export sector, the government should also focus on the power loom sector, which is considered the “mother” of the textile sector. “But it’s ironic that nothing is being done for this sector and people are switching to other businesses.”
Labour Qaumi Movement office-bearer Aslam Miraj told Daily Times that the majority of workers, who had lost their jobs in the current crisis, had switched to menial tasks to make both ends meet.
He said, like other businesses, the power loom sector was also grappling with the high electricity and raw material prices. “We are running from pillar to post to make the people at the helm realise that workers are facing adverse financial conditions and need government backing, but to no avail,” he regretted.