Brick kilns: ‘Consult workers on minimum wage’

Kiln workers accuse employers of delaying registration.

FAISALABAD/MULTAN:

Faisalabad district coordination officer on Friday directed brick kiln owners to upgrade wages after holding negotiations with workers’ representatives.

He said this at a meeting of the district vigilance committee convened in response to a protest organised by Faisalabad brick kiln workers association.

The protesters earlier staged a sit-in against their employers for not paying the legal minimum wage to them. They accused brick kiln owners of denying the workers of the rights granted to them under the country’s labour laws. The protesters said the owners were not registering their kilns with the Labour Department so that they don’t have to provide social security and old-age benefits to the workers.

The protesters said bonded labour was widespread and sexual harassment of women workers a common complaint at kilns across the country and demanded that the government take immediate steps to address these issues.

They said a protest drive would be launched against kiln owners and the district administration if the latter failed to take notice of the situation.

The protesters dispersed after DCO Naseem Sadiq assured them of immediate action to redress their grievances.

A protest demonstration was organised against bonded labour at brick kilns by a non-governmental organisation, Society for Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), at Chowk Naqshah in Multan.

The SPARC coordinator said at least two million people were working as bonded labourers at brick kilns across Pakistan. He said no action was being taken against the owners of such kilns despite there being a law against bonded labour.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2011.