The Sindh government has decided to expand the definition of a worker in its laws. The proposed amendment states that daily wagers and seasonal workers should also enjoy the same allowances as the registered labourers. Moreover, drivers, conductors, home-based workers, mechanics, and masons should also get the status of ‘labour’. The law proposes to make it mandatory for the employer not to put financial benefits of the seasonal worker on hold in case of illness/accident or work stoppage.

Apparently, the proposed amendment is a step towards fulfilling longstanding demands of the labour unions and concerned individuals. However, these stakeholders are sceptical when it comes to results of such measures given the deplorable track record of the Sindh government when it comes to the enforcement phase.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has always pioneered new legislation and amendments to the existing ones; however, the infrastructure necessary to implement and ensure the basic rights of labourers has been very weak, Khalid Mehmood, the director of Labour Education Foundation (LEF)tells The News on Sunday (TNS).

“It is the direct responsibility of the labour inspection section of the Labour Department to ensure the implementation of law and protect labour rights. However, the pitiable performance of this section always helps employers to exploit workers’ basic rights”, he states.

It is because, according to Mehmood, unfortunately no one in the government or the industry “wants a robust infrastructure because of their vested interests”. For instance, the Sindh government has promulgated a law to protect women agricultural workers but there is no pregress towards its implementation, he adds.

Labour laws in Pakistan are broad. They contain several ordinances, Acts, rules and regulations. After the 18^th Amendment in the Constitution, provinces have repealed, replaced or amended many laws. The Sindh province has introduced a couple of Acts to regulate the employment of low-income workers and the white-collar employees: The Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 2015, The Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) and the Sindh Factories Act, 2015, and The Sindh Home – Base Workers Act, 2018.

In theory, these laws hold some very strong sections to improve the conditions for workers. Nevertheless, the most critical part of these laws is the nonexistence of provision pertaining to the remedies for unfair dismissal of workers”, says Waqar Memon, the central deputy secretary of Pakistan Workers’ Federation (PWF) based in Karachi.

Talking about the proposed amendment for seasonal workers and daily wagers, Memon considers these amendments to be a decent legal step towards recognizing workers’ financial and basic rights at the workplace.

The most important right for employees is to have the freedom of forming unions or associations to raise their voice against exploitation, highlights Mehmood.

“Albeit, the government must reexamine the gaps and loopholes in the existing laws to make it pro-worker if they are honest with labour”, he says.

Registration for social security is a serious concern for workers across the country. Social security is a reduced pension paid to the workers with ages from ages 55 to 59 (men) or ages 50 to 54 (women) with at least 15 years of contributions. Old-age pension is 2 percent of the insured worker’s average monthly earnings in the last 12 months multiplied by the number of years for which contributions have been made.

Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institutions have prepared a draft to address this concern. The draft states that “all types of workers will have the right to register themselves for social security benefits.” According to the proposed amendment, workers will get Benazir Cards to receive their social benefits.

“This amendment is incomplete and will remain invalid until it clearly nominates the contributor of the social security amount for workers. It looks impossible to collect the six percent financial contribution from the employers of daily workers, domestic workers, and seasonal workers of the minimum wage”, says Mukhtar Awan, president of PWF’s southern Punjab chapter.

The ground reality, according to Awan, is that “most of the formal as well as informal industries’ workers have no social security registration because their employers do not get them registered.”

The only benefit these Acts and laws provide workers with is the access to court to fight for their basic rights, Awan adds. This is mostly done with the help of unions or associations because individuals avoid going to court against their employers due to fear of losing their jobs, he says.

However, there are only a few operational unions or associations both for the formal and the informal industry. Therefore, most workers end up not seeking justice in cases of unfair termination or another form of exploitation.

The Constitution of Pakistan contains a range of provisions with regards to labour rights. Article 17 provides for a fundamental right to exercise the freedom of association and the right to form unions.

The most important right for employees is to have the freedom of making unions or associations to raise their voice against any kind of exploitation, highlightsMehmood. Unionisation and collective bargaining rights are ensured by the Constitution. “However, this right is squeezed across the country – and Sindh is no exception. Therefore, the new amendment will be useless unless lacunae in the existing laws, regulations and laws are addressed and the mechanism of implementation becomes robust”, he concludes.

The writer is a staff memb0er. He can be reached at  

warraichshehryar@gmail.com