Bonded labour: Brick kiln workers demand raise

FAISALABAD:

Scores of brick kiln workers on Friday staged a protest demonstration against kiln owners and the government to press their demand for a raise in wages.

The protestors blocked the road in front of the city government’s secretariat and threatened to launch a mass protest if their demands were not met.

Muhammad Aslam, a union leader, said the Labour Department and the district coordination officer had assured the labourers that they would be registered under the Social Security Act and given fringe benefits and wage raises.

“The government has labour laws but they are not enforced…We have requested the law enforcement agencies as well as the government to enforce the laws.”

“A brick kiln worker should be paid Rs700 for 1,000 bricks… they are being paid only Rs500 for 1,000 bricks.”

Muhammad Aslam said the brick kiln workers would continue to stage protests until their demands were met.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.