May Day call

Pakistan’s labour force is among the 10 largest in the world, but they are forced to work under extremely pathetic conditions, besides being denied, in most of the cases, the right to form a union.

The right to form an association is guaranteed under article 17 of the Constitution which says, “Every citizen shall have the right to form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, public order or morality”.

Article 17 not only guarantees freedom of association but also of collective bargaining as a fundamental right. But unfortunately, most of the industrial, commercial, trade and other sectors in the country discourage trade union activities in their organisations.

It is pertinent to mention here that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was also a labour leader and great supporter of workers’ cause. He was elected President of the All India Postal Staff Union in 1925. This union had a membership of 70,000. As a member of the Indian Legislative Assembly for over 35 years, Jinnah played a key role in the enactment of the Trade Union Act, 1926, which provided legal cover for the formation of unions. He also attended the founding session of the All India Trade Union Congress in October 1920. He had personal relationship with the labour leaders of that time, including Lala Lajpat Rai, Dewan Chaman Lal, MM Alvi and Subhas Chandra Bose.

Pakistan, being a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO), has ratified as many as 36 conventions, including 8 fundamental conventions. The labour rights that ILO conventions cover include: 8 hours a day work, fair wages, health and safety at workplace, peaceful industrial relations, social dialogue and social security for labourers. However, federal and provincial governments have totally failed to ensure implementation on these conventions. Even today, a majority of workers across the country are deprived of their basic rights under the labour laws.

Pakistani workers are even deprived of basic rights like: minimum wage, issuance of appointment letter, determining terms and conditions of employment, 8-hour workday (with one hour for rest), payment of overtime for additional work, provision of salary statement, share in company profit, bonus, compensation money, healthcare facilities, group insurance, safe drinking water, quality food on subsidised rates, registration with social security institutions, EOBI pension, Workers Welfare Fund membership, etc.

Among the worst sufferers are those working as private security guards, miners, petrol pump employees as well as domestic help and others in informal sectors.

Security guards, mine workers and petrol pump employees are forced to work 12 hours a day instead of 8. Despite that, these security guards are deprived of the government-mandated minimum monthly wage of Rs32,000 and facilities such as lunch break, clean drinking water, toilets, shower rooms, casual and sick leaves, weekly holiday, medical treatment to self and family, compulsory group insurance and EOBI pension after retirement or disability. Thousands of security guards, mine workers and petrol pump employees need to be considered in the category of essential services due to their long working hours and tough working conditions.

Industrial disputes and conflicts between employers and workers on issues like long working hours, unfair wages and deprivation of other basic facilities are common in most of the industrial and commercial sectors in the country. It goes without saying that such a situation affects performance of workers, thereby causing a fall in production and retarding development of these sectors.

This May Day, Pakistani workers need to follow in the footsteps of the workers of Chicago — who left no stone unturned for winning their basic rights, in May 1886 — and make a firm resolve to continue fighting for their rights till victory.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2024.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.