Unconscionable conditions

Protests by daily-wage sanitation workers in Rawalpindi this week are a clear reminder of a crisis we have willfully ignored for far too long. These workers risk their lives every day to keep our cities clean, yet they are forced to demand even the most basic amount of job security through regularisation of their services.

Consider the sheer physical toll of their labour. In Karachi, three sanitation workers recently went into a drain without proper breathing equipment or safety kits and never came back alive. And such cases are hardly an aberration. Most sewage repair and servicing work is done with little more than a hammer and an iron rod. In some areas, workers are given absolutely no protective gear or clothing, leaving them to wade through human and industrial waste. Some workers will buy masks and gloves out of pocket, but given their measly paychecks, the only equipment they can afford is usually not built to purpose or is outright substandard. This leaves them susceptible to several respiratory and skin diseases, some of which are also deadly.

Sanitation workers' status as daily wagers leaves them in a difficult financial position, both in the short and long term. As daily wagers, they only get paid for days worked, meaning there is no such thing as paid time off or paid sick leave - even though their jobs are often what makes them sick. Meanwhile, most workers also do not qualify for EOBI or other pension schemes and are often ineligible for several types of government benefits because they are hired through third-party contractors.

The Rawalpindi Waste Management Company regularised 1,000 workers earlier this year, proving that the government has the power to provide sanitation workers with fair, full employment conditions. This should now be the rule, rather than the exception. After a short qualifying period, sanitation workers should be made eligible for security and benefits that actually reward them for doing some of the jobs that no one wants to do.