Daily Times

Karachi: More than 12 million home-based workers in Pakistan , 80 percent of them women, do not have any legal identity as their status is not defined in the local labor laws; however, the government is yet to announce formal home-based policy to give legal cover and protection to these hapless workers, said the speakers of a protest demo here Thursday.

The demo was arranged here before the Karachi Press Club (KPC) by the Home-based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF), on the occasion of the South Asian home-based workers’ day.

The speakers said the millions of workers have been awaiting signature of competent authority on the home-based policy for last three years. They said once this policy is signed and announced the home-based workers would get the legal status and identity of worker as per labor laws and enjoy benefits and perks under these laws. They demanded to announce the policy without further delay, and register all home-based workers with the social security institutions.

The speakers said that presently there are more than 12million home-based workers in Pakistan and 80percent of them are women and their number is growing with every passing day. They said that labor is being shifted from the formal to informal sector to maximize the profit of industrialists. In the informal sectors the workers are kept away from making trade unions and struggling for their rights in an organized manner. The homes of the home-based workers are being used as factories and workplaces, where their whole families work 12 to 16 hours a day to maximize the profit of the local and international capitalists. Due to lack of health and safety measures these workers face accidents and catch different diseases.

These home-based workers are toiling in different sectors including glass bangles making, footwear, embroidery, needle stitching, garments and handicrafts, sports goods, surgical instruments, toy making, cleaning and packaging of fisheries and dry fruits, and electronics. However, these home-based workers are not considered as worker under the labor laws and hence are deprived of all facilities and perks under these laws. Of 62million workforce of Pakistan, the sector of home-based workers is the most neglected and exploited. They said that in this backdrop the home-based women workers have been struggling for their due rights for last seven years and they have managed to organize the home-based workers in their first trade union, the Home-based Women Workers Federation.

They demanded that the cabinets of Sindh and Punjab should immediately approve their respective home-based policies. The government of Pakistan should ratify the Homework Convention C177 of the ILO and start legislation in all provinces as per the convention. The international principle of equal wages for equal jobs should be respected and applied. The federal and provincial governments should include the representative federation of the home-based workers in the tripartite consultation process regarding the labor laws. The government should immediately announce holding the tripartite conference.

Those spoke the demo included central general secretary of HBWWF Zahra Khan, United Home-based Workers Union leader Saira Feroze,Nasir Mansoor, National Trade Union Federation, Mushtaq Ali Shan of National Trade Union Federation, Ruqia Haneef, Zahida Mukhtar, Parveen Bano, Jameela Abdul Latif, Shamshad and others.