Daily Times

KARACHI: An alliance of different organisations, working on labour issues, women empowerment, human rights, gender, industrial labour, fishermen and the rights of homebased workers, demanded that mainstream political parties include issues of labour, women and human rights in their election manifestoes.

The alliance, consisting of HomeNet Pakistan, Aurat Foundation, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), Home-based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF), Women Development Foundation Pakistan (WDFP) HunarGhar, Rana Liaquat Craftsmen Colony (RLCC), Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Women Development Association (WDA), Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) and PWC held a grand meeting on Thursday.

During the meeting, the alliance urged political parties to include the implementation of Anti-Sexual Harassment laws at all levels within the formal and informal sector in their election manifestos. They also demanded that a special women facilitation desk with women officers in attendance be set up in all labour-related departments including Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI), Workers Welfare Fund (WWF), Workers Welfare Board (WWB), social security institutions and minimum wage boards to facilitate female workers.

Speakers said that women in Pakistan were joining workforce to add monetary contributions to their households in the wake of worsening economic conditions. They said that women had been unable to convert their employment into a means of social and economic empowerment. Speakers informed the meeting that the current female unemployment level in the country was twice as much as male unemployment level. They explained that women already had a low rate of participation in labour market and this combined with an absence of employment opportunities that pay adequately was discouraging women from contributing productively to the country’s economy.

“Articles 25, 26, 27 of Pakistan Constitution emphasize on equality, non- discrimination and safeguards against discriminations on the basis of gender. The country has also committed itself to improve gender inequalities by ratifying United Nation (UN) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) along with two International Labour Organisation (ILO) fundamental Conventions of Equal Remuneration and of Discrimination in Employment and Occupation,” said the speakers.

The participants further said that the violation of women workers rights were primarily connected to the abrogation of labour laws in informal economy and agriculture sector where most of women were working as ‘unpaid family helpers’. They said that the government needed to make major decisions to improve the condition of men and women working in the informal sector.

Participants said that a large segment of Pakistan’s labour force belonged to the informal sector. They explained that a major proportion of workers engaged in the informal sector were home based workers. Expanding on the peculiar nature of home based work, the participants said that home based work had multiple dimensions especially with regard to terms of engagement, remunerations, source of engagement, isolation and invisibility.

“Dominated mostly by women and children of disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, home based workers are not entitled to any labour and other rights as compared to the workers of the formal and service sectors,” said the speakers. They said that the basic rights of workers, including home based workers and domestic workers, were guaranteed under Articles 11, 17, 25, 37 and 38 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. “Home Work Convention (C-177) and Domestic workers Convention (C-189) of the ILO creates responsibility of the member states to protect labour rights of the home based workers, of which most of them are women,” said the speakers.

The speakers informed the meeting that Pakistan had also ratified International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), concluding observations 2013 of the Child Rights Convention (CRC) and the relevant ILO Conventions, such as C-100 and C-111.

During the meeting, the participants also acknowledged that significant labour related legislation had taken place during the last tenure of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in Sindh. “PPP, in its manifesto, includes labour related issues. PPP pledges highlight the importance of recognizing the informal sector of the economy that consists of 748,056 (0.748 million Urban) and 1.9 million (Rural) Home Based Workers of Sindh who fall into the informal bracket of the economy,” said the speakers. .

“We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of PPP and they should be taken into account as the matter of the informal sector is heavily neglected in Pakistan. PPP has brought this issue into the light and is concentrating upon it,” the speakers said, adding that PPP’s pledges for labour reforms and dignified living wages along with the inclusion and protection of informal workforce into the labour framework was a significant step towards a democratic and impartial system of governance based on equality and fair distribution.

“Acknowledging this problem is something that other parties have not done yet and so PPP has stood out in this context and is concentrating on a variety of issues including Home Based Workers issues. In this pledge, PPP has mentioned its’ past achievements. These consist of; the implementation of 14 revolutionary Labour Laws for the protection of rights of workers, the highest legal minimum wage as compared to all other provinces and the construction of 31 Labour Colonies,” said the alliance.

The speakers said that other mainstream political parties had not shown a grave concern over the improvement and empowerment of the labour force. “Introducing a wage equivalent to a decent standard of living for a worker and their family is the responsibility of all political leadership,” said the participants. The speakers said that a decent standard of living included food, water, education, healthcare, transport, clothing and other essential need.

“We, while appreciating the stated public commitments from PPP, would like to ask PPP what their implementation plan is and how they will ensure they live up to the various pledges incorporated in their manifesto,” stated the participants.

During the meeting, representatives from HomeNet Pakistan said that other political parties needed to categorically commit to solving issues millions of workers in informal sector including Women Home Based Workers. “We demand that all political parties ensure that their mandate and manifestos cover our recommendations,” said representatives from HomeNet Pakistan.

HomeNet Pakistan recommended that a Provincial Labour Commission be set up. “The government should undertake the effort of examining laws and regulations particularly the labour legislations and business regulations for their relationship with and impact on informal economy and its different sectors,” stated HomeNet representatives.

“The government should analyze how existing labour legislations can be extended to cover different groups of informal workers particularly from the perspective of multiple role-bearing responsibilities of women and determine where new legislation is required with particular reference to the role of labour inspection, wages, universal social security as well as the capacity and competence of labour administration,” said the participants.

“The scope of such an effort should include learning and adapting from good practices of labour legislations from elsewhere as well as development of strategies for improving the enforcement of gender-relevant legislation focusing on specifically excluded workers such as home-based and domestic workers,” the speakers added.

Published in Daily Times, July 20^th 2018.