As new labour laws passed by the Sindh government of Pakistsan on April 15 this year have extended rights to form trade unions to agricultural workers and those working in fisheries, trade union leaders in Punjab are calling on their Labour Department to make changes to the 2010 Punjab Industrial Relations Act (PIRA) to empower workers employed in these sectors.
After applying pressure on the Sindh Employers Federation, organisations representing farmers and fishermen in the province managed to introduce their proposed draft with the support of the Federation in Sindh Assembly. The new law provides agricultural and fisheries labour with a right to organise themselves into trade unions and have collective bargaining powers.
It is pertinent to note that the 1992 Abolition of Bonded Labour Act was largely ineffective as bonded labourers in these two sectors lacked legal recognition and freedom of association. Even as the agriculture sector employs 44 percent of Pakistan’s labour population, the provinces of Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa do not extend rights to agriculture and fisheries workers.
According to PIRA, the requirements for registration of trade unions state that workers of an establishment, employing not less than fifty workers, may establish a trade union subject to rules of organisation laid down in the Act.
The definition of an establishment’ is further defined as any office, firm, factory, society, undertaking, company, shop, premises or enterprise’ in the province. It is important to note that agricultural farms and fisheries are not included in the legal definition and are thus not bound to the rights of association of their workers.
It is relevant to note here also that the government of Pakistan has ratified the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize 1948 (No. 87) and Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention 1949 (No. 98).
Talking to The News, Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) leader Ch Yaqoob said Punjab has a high agricultural labour population that is deprived of rights given to other labourers. Yaqoob said the criteria for trade union in PIRA is very stringent, as a result millions of labourers are unable to voice their concerns to employers and gain benefits from them. He noted that only two to three percent of Pakistan’s labourers are part of registered trade unions. The PWF leader said the KPK government had also removed restrictions on association and workers in the informal sector were now members of registered trade unions. Yaqoob added that Sindh government has also prepared a law on occupational health and safety of workers, whereas Punjab government is least concerned with the plight of labourers. He lamented that the Punjab Labour Policy of 2014 is yet to be presented.
It is pertinent to note here that the draft of the Labour Policy had featured sweeping changes to PIRA, but is yet to be introduced despite five months having passed since May 1, the scheduled date given by Punjab Labour Minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar.
A rural women’s rights activist based in Vehari, Saima Batool Naqvi, talking to The News said women farmers are the most vulnerable segment of society as they are not treated as agricultural labourers on par with men.
She said due to her organisation’s efforts, women farmers in backward areas of South Punjab had gained membership of Pakistan Kissan Sangat and were now represented in its decision-making bodies. Any policy being drafted to address rights of agricultural labourers in Punjab should have a special focus on women and include them in all farmers’ schemes, said Naqvi.
Members of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad talking to The News said trade unions of agricultural labourers would empower millions of people and rid the sector of exploitative practices, including denial of wages and eviction of tenants from their lands.
A representative of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Mustafa Gurgaze told The News that the Sindhi fishermen were now able to organise trade unions, while their counterparts in Punjab were being denied of their rights. Gurgaze said fishermen were living a life of bonded labour and were deprived of all basic amenities of life. He further said that they work hard, face the hardships of weather and catch fish but handover the catch to the contractors and are unable to even put fish on the table for their children. He demanded the abolition of the contract system over the fisheries in Punjab, as the government Sindh has recently abolished the contract system over public water bodies.
Reacting to this demand of labour leaders to follow the example of Sindh, a member of the Labour and Human Resource Department Punjab said Punjab Labour Policy 2014 would bring relief to these workers by amending PIRA. He said the policy would be presented soon after gaining cabinet approval.
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