Present labors and the Master Slave history of Pakistan

A case study of labors in Pakistan

“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage

that we move on to better things”- Theodore Roosevelt

Introduction:

Labors are the most integral part in uplifting the economy of a country but sadly the labors are

the most avoided entities when it is about pay and compensation.

Time has changed but the situation is somehow the same or even worse. Analyzing the pre

independence and post independence labor conditions of the subcontinent we will see that the

labors were considered as slave and they were treated in a very inhuman way and they used to

work whole life and the only aim of their life was to serve their master and keep him happy.

History depicts that we the Pakistani’s were the slaves and the masters were the British people.

Almost everybody is familiar with the problems that we used to face when they degraded,

humiliated and took benefit from us. We were so troubled by their attitude that we claimed

independence to get rid of the cruelty of the British people as they used to treat us as servants

and slaves. We never liked them due to their selfish attitude and were not satisfied with the living

conditions they were offering to us.

In 1947, we got independence and now are a free state but the Master slave history is deeply

rooted inside each one of us, we being an independent and self sufficient person assume

ourselves to be the master of the labors or the poor people who work for daily wages at different

industries, construction or kiln sites in Pakistan.

A construction worker is a tradesman, laborer (by tradition considered an unskilled tradesman),

or professional employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its

infrastructure. By the word Construction worker I mean carpenter, electrician, ironworker,

laborer, mason, plasterer, plumber, pipefitter, sheet metal worker, steel fixer (also known as a

"rodbuster"), and welder. And by Kiln workers I mean the labors making bricks at the kiln sites.

Problem Identification:

In Pakistan about 43% of the total labor workforce in Pakistan is involved in agriculture, 20.3%

in industry and the remaining 36.6% in other services which includes one section of labors who

work whole day in the hot sun to pay off their debt and, many times, their family’s debt, which

can be passed down through the generations (Relate it to the history we have). Although this

practice of paying off loans through labor has been outlawed by the Pakistani government since

1992, actual enforcement of the law is not practiced. The second section of labor workforce,

works for fulfilling the basic necessities of life.

In this case study I am concerned with the labor of the both sections. Due to high inflation in

Pakistan the lives of the labors are miserable. They do not have a work life balance in fact I

believe they don’t have a life. As there are no work hour limits or any other labor laws, firm

enough to limit the working hours or to flexible the working schedules of these labors. These

workers are “Labors till Death”. Construction Labors are asked to reach at construction sites

early in the morning and they are made to work whole day without a rest hour or a lunch break,

it’s a rule here at the work sites, “work more to get more”.

Child labor according to the Pakistan laws is prohibited but it is not being implemented instead it

is getting very common to have a full time child worker at home to serve the family. Other than

that many kids can be seen in the various commercial areas selling balloons or asking for money

which enhances the functioning of groups that compel kids to work and get money for them. The

law needs to be seriously implemented as the children are the ones who need to get educated and

be preserved from domestic violence in order to lead the country towards growth and prosperity.

Kiln workers condition is even more critical, if you ever got a chance to see that how the

complete families including men, women and small kids work at the kiln sites to make bricks.

These kids do not work in front of flame for their own interest but in order to get better feed for

their family. Even though in Labor Act 2012 child labor is unlawful but still it is being practiced

openly in our country. The kiln workers are compensated as under:

Source: Punjab Gazette (Extra ordinary) September 2014

I have witnessed a lot of sites where labors are working without safety gadgets moving the heavy

materials, steels and metal rods with such pathetic pulleys, the wooden stairs, most of you surely

have witnessed at the construction sites where labors carrying heavy equipments, bags of cement

or machinery through such dangerous stairs. It is not wrong to say that a labor in Pakistan daily

put his life on stake when he arrives at the construction site. Why can’t we be just human enough

to lessen the time and enhance the wages of the labor working in the hot sun whole day without

any gadget or the safety equipment?

It is heartbreaking to know that the Labor act of Pakistan doesn’t even talk about the conflict of

rights of the people. Conflicts are characterized into two sections: Conflict of rights and conflict

of interests. Conflict of rights includes the right of an individual to live, safety, security and

belongings. Right of safe work environment, proper sanitation, clean drinking water and

healthy work atmosphere. Conflict of interest includes pay, wage, salary, grievance etc. The

Brick Layer ordinary

Special Brick layer

Gutka Brick Layer

Tiles Layer

 

Nikasi Wala

 

Donkey Man

Rehra Wala

Rs:888 per thousand Bricks

Rs.1050 per thousand Bricks

Rs:1050 per thousand Bricks

 

Rs.1050 per thousand Bricks

 Rs:223:25 per thousand Bricks

 

 Rs: 289 per thousand bricks

 

Rs.289 per thousand bricks

quote “laws are meant to be broken” is totally being practices in Pakistan as the stated laws are

not being abided either i.e. the pay or the wages in regard to labors.

Workers working in various areas face the following issues.

1. Long and unlimited hours of work

2. Heavy workload

3. Lack of legal protection

4. Violence and abuse at work, either physical or psychological

5. Forced labor/child labor and trafficking of domestic workers

6. No minimum wage protection and low salaries

7. No labor inspection and law enforcement

8. Weaker collective bargaining position

9. Poor living quarters

10. Insufficient food

11. Lack of privacy

It is really throbbing to know that labor try to manage with such living conditions just to stay

alive in this cruel world as in return of such bravery and remarkable performance at the work

sites they are compensated with very little wage. The current minimum wage in Punjab, Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces is Rs. 10,000 per month for unskilled workers while the

minimum wage in Balochistan is still Rs. 9,000 per month. As for the skilled workers, the

Minimum Wage Boards are constituted in every province to recommend wages for workers of

different skill levels and within different industries. The minimum wage rate for unskilled

workers is Rs.12000 per month in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan as well the

Islamabad Capital Territory. Minimum wage is Rs.15000 per month in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

These minimum wage rates are applicable from 01 July 2014. Minimum wages for semi-skilled

and skilled workers are determined by the Minimum Wage Boards constituted under the

Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961. The Detailed Minimum Wage notifications for different

industries based in the provinces are issued later by the provincial labor departments.

1st May, the so called labor day is a day when employees at managerial and non-managerial level

gets a paid leave whereas the labors are prone to work sites. On the very recent labor day of 2015

many labors organized street demonstrations, where workers and labor unions protest against

labor repression and demanded for more rights, better wages and benefits. Pakistan has also been

ranked by the 2013 Global Slavery index as having “the third highest prevalence of modern-day

slavery.” Female kiln workers are among the worst treated. Zakaria Nutkani of Action Aid

explains, “Female workers have virtually no rights, as most of them do not even possess a

national identity card, which is a basic document to prove a person’s existence in government

records.” Nutkani explains further that female workers are often the lowest paid and face never-

ending work because of additional responsibilities maintaining their households. In your opinion

isn’t it a duty of state to ensure best environment for the working of female?

The people in Pakistan are uneducated. Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world

and according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), it is 55 per cent and Pakistan stands at 160th in total countries of the world. The

labors in Pakistan face severe condition because they are unaware of their rights and the duties

and an individual in Pakistan in this era of recession is just trying to satisfy his basic

physiological need to stay alive.

In your opinion how important is it for a labor to be educated and have all documents showing

his/her identity in the rural areas?

Diagnosis and treatment plan:

The labor issues can be resolved by the several actions:

1. Revise the compensation plan according to the Act. Government needs to take

affirmative action to fix the wage of the workers according to the increasing inflation rate

so that they can be happy and can live their lives favorably or implementing on the

sections of the act rightly.

Compensation

Overtime Compensation

In accordance with the section 47 of Factories Act, 1934; if a worker works beyond the

stipulated working hours, i.e., 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week, he is entitled to an overtime

pay that is double the rate of his ordinary pay (200% of the normal wage rate). In seasonal

factories, workers may work up to 56 hours a week.

Weekend / Public Holiday Work Compensation

There is no provision for premium pay for working on a weekly rest day however if an employee

works on a public holiday , he is paid at 300% of the rate of his normal wages (normal wage for

working on public holiday + paid substitute holiday + one day's paid compensatory holiday).

(section 49-I of Factories Act).

2. Industrial Act revision/improvements.

3. New labor Policy.

4. Implementation of labor protection policy.

5. Proposed occupational safety and health bill that would first time in Pakistan exclusively

deal with the related matters.

6. Legislations dealing with working conditions and work hours/timings.

Case questions:

1. In your opinion are