Thursday, May 8, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1, 1429    

Most exploited segment in Pak workforce

Yasmin Masood

Pakistan joined the global community in observing the International Labour Day on May 1, paying tributes to the Chicago workers who made sacrifices, in 1886, for the rights of workers. In keeping with the past practice, this year also the national leaders greeted the workers through statements, trade unions organized rallies in major towns, while the print media carried full page spreads and the electronic media specially prepared packages. Amidst all the customary fanfare and rituals, did anyone spare a few moments to ponder over the conditions of the country’s workforce, who toil day in and day out to provide us the comforts and luxuries of modern living? Since 1980s, there has appeared another segment amongst Pakistan’s work force, which is usually referred to as home-based workers or casual workers or workers in the informal sector. Predominantly comprising women, home-based workers (according to Actionaid) now constitutes 65.8 per cent of the country’s total workforce, representing one of the most exploited segments of the work force in Pakistan.
Privatization, deindustrialization, export-led growth, poverty, inflation, downsizing of state enterprises and rapid urbanization have led to a phenomenal growth in the informal sector, over the past two decades, in most of the developing countries, including Pakistan and other States in the South Asia Sub-Continent. A Labour Force Survey, conducted in Pakistan during 2001-02, estimated the employment in the country’s informal sector at 14.746 million against 12.318 million in 1996-99, representing a share of 66.5 per cent over non-agricultural employment and 38.5 per cent over total employment. The industries that experienced the most rapid growth of employment in the informal sector over the period included manufacturing (2.2 % of average annual growth rate) and business services, including transport and communication, (2.3 %).
The growth in the informal sector has led to an accelerated growth in Home-Based Work (HBW) and HBW Force, predominantly comprising women. In fact, more than three-fourths of urban employment for women takes place in the informal sector due to the fact that an increasing volume of work is now being pushed out from the large-scale production units through sub-contracting home-based work. The widespread displacement of office/factory work to homework has provided a more flexible, but also more exploited workforce. Generally considered a residual sector, it was believed that the “formalization” of informal sector would come in due time, but the prediction has, thus far, proved not to hold.
Further, the informal sector is highly widespread and heterogeneous and HBW highly unorganized and the workers engaged in it, in particular the women, the worst victims of exploitation by sub-contractors. Often paid at piece rate, the income of home-based working women is too meager to even afford/buy the basic necessities of life. Further, their work is of casual nature and they have no information about factory for which they are working. If they meet an accident during work, they do not get any compensation or facility. They work for 14 – 16 hours a day, but are deprived of the social security benefits, which are generally available to factory based workers. Though there is no specific data available to cover home-based workers, their work is usually in sectors like garments, bangle work, sack stitching, shoe stitching, carpet weaving, packing and football stitching.
Notwithstanding the fact that working women are making a significant contribution to the national economy neither their work is recognized nor home-based working women have the status of workers or their work is incorporated in the country’s statistical data. In other words, home-based work by women contributes significantly in the overall economy of the country, but it remains highly unrecognized.
Further, the wages of Home-Based Workers, in particular the women, are low, working conditions are harsh; while employment benefits and any mechanism for social protection do not exist at all. On an average, working women in the informal sector earn less than half the weekly salaries of men. Due to growing inflation and unemployment, the financial condition of these home based workers, who are playing a vital role in the country’s development, is constantly getting worse. A 45-year old home based worker, Naghmana working for a garments factory said that she has nothing to do with the observance of international Labour Day or similar other days of this nature; I know one thing only that I can’t afford any holiday, because I have to feed my family of six. I have no day-off, even on a Sunday or Friday.
The treatment being meted out to the home-based women workers is contrary to the provisions enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. For instance, Article 3 of the Constitution binds the minions of the State to “ensure elimination of all forms of exploitation” while Article 25(2) clearly states that “there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.” But, practically very little seems to have been done during the last six decades to give the home-based female workers their due rights.
The introduction of liberal investor-friendly polices has further weakened the role of workers and trade unions, denying them the right to collective bargaining, union membership or freedom of association, right to strike or form and join a trade union. The exemption from labour legislation allowed to export processing zones (EPZ), practically denying all rights to workers in those zones, has further added to the gravity of the problem and the woes of home-based workers in EPZs. In short, the rights of women, especially as workers, have undergone significant transformation, spurred by the onset of Neo-liberal economic policies in South Asia and the Macro Economic environment in the 1990s.
As a result of persistent struggle by the workers, the Government of Pakistan recognized home-based work in its labour policy 2002. However, no further action seems to have been taken to translate those policies in to law so far. Besides, Pakistan has yet to ratify ILO Convention 177, which recognizes the rights of home-based workers for social security benefits, gratuity, medical facilities and increase in wages, and calls upon all States to give a legal cover to these rights. Since women’s bargaining and organizing abilities are weak, their chances of empowering themselves are also low. However, skill and leadership training programmes initiated by ActionAid, CIDA, Women Workers Helpline and Labour Education Foundation and also women workers direct meetings with contractors and investors have, of late, brought about a little improvement in their wages.
Now, these pro-women emancipation organizations are advocating for social protection and signing/ratifying ILO Home-Based Convention C-177. In this regard, these organizations have also developed a Social Protection Bill, covering benefits like sickness, maternity, injury compensation, disablement pension/gratuity, death grant and survivor’s pension for women working in the informal sector. Recently, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced minimum wages for the workers in the formal sector. Justice demands that the benefit of the minimum wages should also be extended to the workers engaged in the informal sector or the wages of Home-Based Workers should be settled through collective bargaining.