A labour consultation was held at Karachi Press Club jointly organised by Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation for the workers in the mining industry. Zulfiqar Shah, Joint Director PILER, outlined the agenda of the meeting after short introduction of participants.
The inaugural session was chaired by Sultan Khan. Talking about the overall condition of the workers in the mining sector, he said that the plight of the workers in this sector has worsened while the government agencies and employers are presenting a picture of indifference and incompetence.
Karamat Ali elaborated the plight of forced or bonded labour in the mining industry in Pakistan as well as the occupational hazards faced by workers in the sector including precarious health and safety conditions. He stressed that safety gears and the provision of hazardous gas detection equipment can mavert the number of fatal accidents.
Shahid Hanif of PCMLF, Islamabad region, informed that the government has not developed amicable relations with the workers in the mining sector which leads to a chaotic situation, while the labour leader from Shangla district, KP, Gulab Khan quoted the economic turmoil and overall situation of the miners.
Saeed Khattak from Punjab said that the workers get seriously ill and physically affected due to short circuits and toxic gases in mines. "We are deeply concerned by the incompetence of the labour department, which needs to revive the mines inspection system, improve the mines rescue and social security system, including better education facilities for the children of labourers," he added.
Explaining the plight of Balochistan miners, Haji Khan Zaman said that the labour department has become a hotbed of corruption and nepotism because the miners are not united and organised under one platform.
Concluding the session, Sultan Khan said that according to the Supreme Court, the compensation should be the same in the whole country, while all the provinces have announced separate compensations for victims.
Workers will have to form a "confederation" with solidarity across the country, so that the struggle for rights can take place jointly. In his opening remarks of the second session, Nasir Mansoor of National Trade Union Federation highlighted the situation of workers in Sindh and said that trade unions in the province are being discouraged while workers are still fighting for their rights.
He quoted that recently in the international conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, world leaders agreed unanimously that they will follow the zero carbon emissions policy.
Renowned labour trainer, Syed Ashraf Naqvi said that after the tragedy of the Baldia factory inferno legislators started working for health and safety. He appreciated that Sindh took the initiative by legislating OSH law 2017 but this health and safety law does not include the minerals and mining sector and even today the law of the colonial era of 1923 is in force.
Demanding the importance of conducting appropriate training programmes for this purpose, the labour representatives stressed the need to make the Labour Courts more functional and efficient. At the same time, there is a need to coordinate a comprehensive strategy for the welfare of workers who are disabled due to mine accidents.
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