Recognising workers: ‘Home-based workers must unionise’

These workers are relegated to fringes of economic progress, speakers at a conference say.

LAHORE:

Home-based workers in Pakistan – largely unrepresented and invisible – are not accorded their basic rights as productive members of the economy, HomeNet Pakistan executive director Ume Laila said at a conference regarding rights of home-based workers.

A large number of home-based workers and members of district action committees from 16 districts of the Punjab attended the two-day conference which began on Thursday.

Ume Laila spoke about an international conference titled Engaging with City Officials and Local Government that she had recently attended in Thailand. She said HomeNet Pakistan had adopted the Asian Cities Declaration [regarding rights of home-based workers] passed at the conference. She said they were striving for the rights of these marginalised workers.

She said because these workers were not recognised or accorded their basic rights, they were not incorporated in national or city development agendas and programmes.

She said they had limited access to social security, opportunities to learn new skills, micro credit and markets. She said they were also unable to register themselves as workers.



Laila said, “We need to address the concerns of urban home-based workers and integrate them into urban and economic plans in collaboration with provincial and local governments as well as relevant departments.”

She said local bodies and relevant departments needed to adopt an approach that recognised home as a workplace. She said they also needed to look into providing these workers low-cost housing for their social and economic uplift.

Laila also stressed the need to provide public transport that catered to the needs of low-income groups – their routes, schedules, income and safety.

“Steps should be taken to ensure child care, maternity benefits, health insurance, old-age pensions and disability pensions for the home-based workers,” Laila said.

Labour Education Foundation director Khalid Mehmood urged home based workers to organise themselves and form unions to strive for their rights.

“If labourers in other sectors can form unions to fight for their rights, why can’t home-based workers,” said Mehmood.

Europe’s countries only progressed once the workers – which comprised 70 to 80 per cent of their population – were accorded their rights.

Mehmood said only home-based workers could represent themselves. “This is why they must work towards forming their own unions.”

He said district action committees, non-government organisations and the civil society could help home-based workers more if they had a union to represent their interests.

“Home-based workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have their own... it’s time for home-based workers of the Punjab to form their own.” He said the right to form a union was enshrined in the Constitution.

Uzma Quresh of UN Women appreciated HomeNet Pakistan’s efforts and urged home-based workers to organise themselves and raise their voice.

She said women home-based workers played an important role in country’s economy which could not be ruled out.

She urged the government to take emergent measures to focus on the informal sector and on women’s empowerment.

“Food security and basic human rights are linked with women home-based workers... these rights must be accorded,” said Quresh.

She said district action committees could join various campaigns to work for women empowerment.

Labour Department Director Dawood Abdullah said that department’s key responsibility was to enforce the law and work for the welfare of working classes. He said there were 20 Acts dealing with labour issues in Pakistan. “Legislative action with regard to home-based workers is also in the pipeline,” he said. He said it was the duty of the Labour Department to ensure that these laws were complied with. “We ensure due compensation, allocation of funds in case of injuries or death, and standard minimum wage.”

Abdullah answered questions raised by participants from the audience and heard complaints raised by members of district action committees of various districts.

Farooq Khan, a labourer from Bahawalpur, complained that district labour officers in Bahawalpur were rarely open for labourers. “Whenever we have visited their office, we are told that they are away on field visits.” He requested the department to share its helpline with the public.

On Friday, participants and home-based workers will be taken to visit the Social Security Department office. Several sessions featuring problems faced by home-based workers will be held.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2014.