Daily Times

KARACHI: Negligent government officials, owners and contractors of mines should be booked for the murders of the miners because they are not implementing the safety measures in mines.

These were the demands put forth by the leaders of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mines and General Workers Unions (PCEM) during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Friday.

NTUF Deputy General Secretary Nasir Mansoor said that the miners were dying because no safety measures were being taken in mines. He said that the deaths could only stop when those responsible for miner’s deaths were held accountable. He said that Miners Act needed to be amended as per new conditions and implemented strictly. Mansoor said that workplaces in the whole country were becoming death chambers for laborers but the conditions in the mining sector were even worse. He said that the number of deaths of workers was rising with every passing day. “As per an estimate, every year 200 miners die due to lack of safety measures and old methods of mining in Pakistan. Today in Pakistan a 95 years old Mines Act 1923 is in vogue, but even it is not being implemented. There is a Coal Mines Ordinance 1960 but it is only present in pages of law books,” he said.

PCEM General Secretary Imran Ali said that only one percent of the world’s labour force was working in the mining sector but the death ratio in the sector was more than eight percent. “Even though better safety measures have been introduced in mines, more than 1200 mine workers die annually in mishaps,” he said. “Pakistan is still considered one of the worst countries for miners,” he added.

Habibduddin Junaidi of People Labour Bureau (PLB) said that thousands of miners were working in iron, copper, gold, diamond and coal mines in different areas of Pakistan including Swat, Kohat, Mach, Bolan, Sanjdi, Dagari, Tharparkar, Lakhra, Meting, Khuzdar, Khewira, Dandot and Mengor. He said that these workers were subjected to virtually inhuman conditions. He said that these miners did not have the right to form labour unions and they were not being offered social security and pension. He said that in case of deaths, their heirs did not get any death grant. “The owners of mines, contractors, sub-contractors and government officials have joined hands to turn the mining sector in forced labor camps. They earn billions of rupees but their workers get death, respiratory diseases, TB, weak eyes, perpetual headache and amputations,” he said.

Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (PILER) Executive Director told the media that presently, many international mining companies along with their local partners were looting the national resources of Pakistan. He said that even after the passage of 70 years, no provincial or national mining policy had been formulated. He added that the government had not even ratified the International Labour Organisation Safety and Health in Mines Convention 176, though 33 other countries related to mines had already ratified this convention, incorporated it into their laws and also strictly implemented them.

Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) General Secretary Zehra Khan upheld that miners were dying in Pakistan because the relevant stakeholders were not implementing any safety measures. “Labour laws are practically non-existent in the labour sector and archaic methods of mining are still being exercised in the country,” she said. She explained that majority of mines were sandy stone hills which caved in due to rain. “Accumulation of gases in mines and explosions also account for a big faction of deaths in the mining sector,” she said, adding that no proper data was available on the death of miners. “Inhalation of micro-dust during drilling, methane and carbon monoxide also kill miners gradually,” she said.

NTUF President Rafiq Baloch said that Thar possessed one of the largest coal reserves of the world and both local as well as international companies were mining for coal there. “Despite this,” said Baloch, “working conditions of miners remain worrisome”. He said that miners worked 12 hours a day for a meager wage of Rs400 and without any weekly holiday. “A noted company has not paid its more than 4500 workers the salaries for past three months,” he revealed. According to Baloch, traditional economic activity had been wiped out at the onset of mining in the region but the locals were still not being given jobs.

The labour leaders demanded that the government ratify the ILO Safety and Health in Mines Convention 176. “The government should make new laws and a national policy for the welfare of the mine workers,” they demanded. The labour leaders said that tripartite talks should be initiated for improving working conditions of the miners. They further said that labor laws and health and safety laws should be implemented in the mining sector and mine workers should be given the right of making their unions and electing collective bargaining agents (CBAs).

Concluding the press conference, the labour leaders demanded that locals be given jobs in Thar and their salaries be regularized. They further urged the government to ensure that overtime wages be paid to workers and they be given a paid weekly holiday. They demanded that residents of the villages affected due mining in Thar, especially Kumbharon Daris should be given compensation. They also said that effective steps should be taken to check environmental degradation in the Thar due to coal mining.

Published in Daily Times, September 29^th 2018.