Daily Times

The constitution of Pakistan provides safeguards to all forms of labour and has a wide range of provisions that grant them protection and freedom of rights. Articles 11,17,18,25, and 37(e) deal with banning child labour and all forms of bonded labour, granting rights to unionise to labours and giving equal opportunity to all citizens to enter any lawful profession. However, despite such legislation, the state has been grappling with the arduous task of giving a safe environment and treatment to its workers.

According to a report by Human Right Watch “No Room to Bargain” Unfair and Abusive Labour Practices in Pakistan”, the workers suffer an abusive environment with blatant violations of their rights. The report highlights that workers in factories experience a range of violations of their rights especially those in the garment factories in Pakistan. They are forced to work overtime and denied minimum wages and pensions. No safe provisions are given to them to form independent labour unions. The workers work day and night in exhaustion and do not get sufficient breaks to get escape from a monotonous routine.

Labour unions serve as an intermediary between the workers and the employers and help them to work together in harmony. However, in Pakistan, it is observed that less than one per cent of the country’s labour force is unionised and the factory owner workers are actually against the formation of independent labour unions and strictly discourage the practice of organizing unions as they fear it raises the cost of doing business. When unions are formed, workers get empowered to demand better wages and improved working conditions that put the factory owners at risk. To avert such circumstances, the factory owners simply reject the idea of providing workers with the ability to form unions. The absence of labour unions never let the workers address their grievances and stand firmly for the protection of their rights. Since the most vital route to be empowered remains closed, the workers in Pakistan suffer in agony and deprivation.

Since there are no proper contracts signed between the employers and employees, no rules are being followed in the country.

Zulfiqar Shah, the joint director at PILER reported that the owners of the factory fear the collective voice of workers as they do not want them to defend their rights and create problems for the business.

“When the voice of our labour is this weak, you cannot expect them to be able to defend themselves, let alone fight for their rights”, Shah added.

Most problems that occur and lead to violation of labour rights are due to the absence of written contracts and established legal agreements between the workers and employers. As there is no such arrangement existing in practice, every factory employs workers using its terms and conditions that the workers know nothing about. There is no unionized form of agreement present with the owners that can provide rules and regulations for workers to abide by. Such conditions do not allow the workers to have fixed income and make it difficult for the workers to seek employment benefits or work under fixed terms and conditions, giving them convenience at work and other social benefits.

It is also a routine practice to see that factories force workers to work overtime without assigning the time limit as well as paying equally for the time strived. From a legal perspective, in Pakistan, the regular working hours should not be longer than eight hours, which also include one hour for break/lunch. The employers can only appoint overtime of a maximum of two hours per day that should be compensated and regularly paid to the workers. Since there are no proper contracts signed between the employers and employees, no such rules are being followed in the country. The workers are bound to work under coercion as no other option is available for them to avail or else refuse to surrender.

Akbar, a worker from a local factory in Karachi, says about the miserable conditions they have to face due to working overtime.

“I was fired last Sunday for not working overtime. I have not received a termination letter. On Monday, when I went to work, my name was listed with the security guard at the gate and he told me that I had been ‘gate stopped’. Gate stopped is the fearful term in the garment industry since it means that you have been fired and are no longer allowed to enter the factory.”

Many workers in Pakistan are found to be working in unsafe and unhygienic conditions that are detrimental to their health and physical wellbeing. It is a common sight to see 300 and 400 workers packed in a small space in the factory. The area where the workers do the job is unclean and filthy, and there are no proper facilities for drinking water and provisions of healthy food. Due to overcrowding and unhygienic conditions, the workers sometimes suffer nausea and suffocation, wherein if they are medically treated have to experience deductions from their salary. The factories do not provide separate medical aid as part of the employment package.

Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, has expressed disappointment in the violation of labour rights in Pakistan and said that the government has long neglected its duty to protect the rights of the worker. “The government should leave reluctance of safeguarding the constitutional rights and adopt new policies to protect them. There is a need for immediate actions by the state to stop human rights abuse at factories and provide workers safe working conditions under laws giving absolute social security and employment benefits,” he maintains.

The writer is a sociocultural critic with a focus on human rights. She can be reached at mehmilkhalid@gmail.com