Bets off: Brick kiln owners to strike from tomorrow

‘We will shut down kilns indefinitely if the govt does not accede to our demands’

BAHAWALPUR/MULTAN/LAHORE:

Owners of brick kilns across the province will go on strike from February 26 to March 4 in protest against arrest of owners under the Child Labour Act. If no action is taken, then kilns will be shut down and no bricks will be sold between March 4 and March 18.

This was announced at a meeting of the All Pakistan Brick Kiln Owners Association in Lahore on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the association said that they had requested all district chapters of the association to call for strike. “If the government does not accede to our demands till March 18, we will shut our kilns down indefinitely.” He said that all district chapters of the association will hold demonstrations in front of the area DCO’s office every day between February 26 and March 4.

A spokesperson from the Labour Department said that they had formed a committee to negotiate with brick kiln owners. “In the meantime, we will implement the Restriction of Employment of Children at Brick Kilns Ordinance 2016 in letter and spirit.”

Rahim Yar Khan

Nearly 400 owners of brick kilns in Rahim Yar Khan district will go on strike. This was announced at a meeting of the Brick Kiln Association Rahim Yar Khan chapter.

Members of the association also announced they would hold demonstrations in front of the Rahim Yar Khan DCO’s office every day till the government acceded to their demands.

The meeting was presided over by Pakistan Brick Kiln Association central president Shoaib Khan Niazi. The association’s office bearers from Rahim Yar Khan’s four tehsils participated in the meeting.

Brick Kiln Association Rahim Yar Khan president Malik Khursheed Ahmad issued a press statement after the meeting saying that the brick kiln industry was the backbone of development in the country. “The government is following a foreign agenda and destroying this industry.”  The statement said that brick kiln owners across the province had followed government directions and had stopped employing children at the kilns. “We constructed schools at the kilns and displayed banners on the importance of education…but we are still being harassed.” It said that brick kiln owners were not aware of any children still working at brick kilns. “We are not responsible if parents force their children to work alongside them.”

The government is harassing brick kiln owners rather than taking concrete steps to put children at kilns in schools, the statement said.

Most brick kilns are located outside urban centres. “We have constructed schools for the children of workers at brick kilns. Most of the parents do not want to send their children to these schools and make them work with them…it is extremely unfortunate that the government is putting kiln owners in prison for the mistakes of these children’s parents.”

The association has urged the government to crack down on the parents of children found working at kilns. If the government turned a deaf ear to their pleas, members of the association will hold a hunger strike on The Mall, Lahore.

Bhatta Mazdoor Union

Commenting on the strike announced by brick kilns owners, All Pakistan Bhatta Mazdoor Union chairman Mehmood Butt said the owners’ egos were hurt. “They have been given a free reign with kiln workers with impunity for too long, bonded labour has been going on for decades. Now the government is making them register kiln workers and is taking them to task for employing children. The idea that they could be punished or held accountable is an anathema to them.” He said he doubted that the owners would proceed with their threat of shutting down brick kilns. “They will continue to sell bricks albeit at inflated rates.”

He said brick kiln workers had been denied their rights for too long. “We see the Restriction of Employment of Children at Brick Kilns Ordinance 2016 and various clauses in it that protect workers’ rights as a window for the improvement of our lives and the future of our children.” However, the government must not implement it half-heartedly, he said.

Children belong in school

More than 31,000 children, who were previously working at brick kilns in Dera Ghazi Khan, have now been enrolled in public schools, DCO Nadeemur Rehman said at a meeting in his office on Wednesday.

He said teams of Labour Department officials, himself, the DPO and other members of the district administration had led raids at 5,000 brick kilns and had arrested 700 kiln owners for employing children. Stern punishment was announced in 128 cases a.

Rehman said they were taking firm steps to end child labour in Dera Ghazi Khan. He said they had sealed 10 brick kilns so far. The DCO said kiln owners had been told to present credentials regarding the identification and registration of workers at their kilns and their ages.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th,  2016.