Minimum wage claims thrown to the wind

KARACHI:

Despite the tall claims by government officials and an announcement by the former chief minister in his last year’s budget speech to set the minimum wage for unskilled workers between Rs32,000 and Rs35,000, the labour class continues to work for lower wages, earning daily Rs15,000 to Rs25,000 a month. The laws intended to protect the labour class remain confined to statutory books.

Naila Parven, who has worked at a garment factory for eight years, barely earns Rs22,000 a month, as her employer brazenly defies the law. She earns a paltry sum of around Rs800 per day to make ends meet. “I work from 9am to 5pm, with Sundays off, in a factory located in the Korangi industrial area. “It’s a very tiring and arduous job. I have no other option but to work there to support my household,” she said, adding that hundreds of women and men are forced to work for lower wages due to the closure of many factories in recent years.

The issue of low wages is not limited to garment factories. It persists in other formal and informal sectors as well. Parven Rehman, who is a teacher in a private school, shares a similar story, describing her struggle with a monthly salary of Rs20,000. “I started this job at Rs8,000 back in 2014. Even after eight years, my salary has only increased to Rs20,000,” she said, adding that more than 15 of her colleagues face the same predicament but remain silent due to the lack of alternative opportunities.

Trade union activists highlight that employees, from peons to sweepers, and watchmen to gardeners, all face this dilemma. “Garment, textile, and footwear industries are the main sectors contributing approximately $13.6 billion in exports to Pakistan every year. Unfortunately, both the private sector and the government have neglected them when it comes to implementing fair wages,” one labour leader said. “Despite the recent increase in the minimum wage for skilled workers to Rs33,280 and unskilled workers to Rs32,000, the situation remains dire.

“After the chief minister’s announcement in the current fiscal year budget to provide a minimum salary of Rs35,000 to workers, there was a consensus to fix it at Rs32,000. It was supposed to be implemented in July 2023, but this has not yet happened,” said Karamat Ali, Executive Director of PILER, a representative organization of labor in Sindh.

Karamat expressed concern over prevailing anti-worker policies in Sindh and demanded urgent remedies to the growing unrest among the working class. According to officials, the delay is reportedly due to the Minimum Wage Board forwarding the draft for approval to the secretary of labor, who, in turn, sent it to the chief secretary for presentation to the cabinet. However, it has not yet been implemented, not only for this year but also for last year’s minimum wage announced in the 2022-23 budget.

Former labor minister Saeed Ghani explained that the chief minister had announced Rs35,000, but the Minimum Wage Board, formed by the provincial government, fixed it at Rs32,000 after consultations with various stakeholders. “The implementation process was underway, but the assembly’s tenure came to an end,” he said. He urged the caretaker government to take up the issue for implementation, stating, “If not, then the upcoming government after the general election should do so.”

Ghani noted that Sindh was the first province to raise the minimum monthly wage to Rs25,000 two years ago. He stated that his department had already implemented some pro-worker measures before announcing the provincial budget for the new fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Human Rights Commission has taken notice of the issue and written to the secretary of labor for the implementation of the minimum wage. “We have received complaints from PILER and other labour and trade union organisations regarding human rights laws and policies. As our organisation is a statutory body mandated to prevent human rights violations, we have the authority to inquire into such matters and recommend remedial measures,” said Iqbal Detho, Chairperson of the SHRC, adding that he has written to the concerned departments for law implementation.

On the other hand, a spokesperson for the Sindh chief minister stated that the caretaker chief minister, Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar, has directed the Labour Department to implement the minimum wage and regularize temporary workers in industrial sectors. “We hope this issue will be resolved soon,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2023.