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Pakistan lags behind in skilled women labour force

KARACHI - Despite of passing a year of the newly democratic government, no significant improvement has been noticed in the lives of the workers rather they are facing more challenges.

Rights to freedom of association and collective bargain remain restricted, a number of workers lost their lives due to inadequate health and safety arrangement at workplace, social protection schemes remain limited to few. Hundreds of workers lost jobs with the reason of so-called “financial crisis.”

There was no increase in the wages as compared to sky rocketing inflation, extreme labour exploitation in the shape of bonded labour and child labour also continued. It was said in a Press statement issued by Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) on Thursday on the eve of May Day 2009.

The PILER brief highlights the status of labour during the last one year. Even though the present government has replaced the notorious Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002 with the new Industrial Relations Act (IRA) 2008, the trade unions still have serious reservations about the newly enacted Act. Labour leaders complain that the workers were not consulted while formulating the IRA 2008.

The government claims that the new Act is for a shorter duration and would be replaced by a comprehensive law by 2010. The government also conducted a so-called Pakistan Tripartite Labour Conference in February 2009 to review IRA 2008 for consensus on a new legislation, till now truly ‘broad-based tripartite consultations among social partners’ is missing.

PILER has urged the legislators to incorporate the provisions of ILO Conventions No 87 and 98 relating to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining while modifying the IRA 2008 to make it acceptable to the workers’ organisations and extend coverage of social protection schemes to all workers particularly the vulnerable informal sector, home-based women workers and sub-contracted workers.

Quoting figures, the PILER statement said out of total labour force of over 50 million in Pakistan, only 6.62 million workers are benefited from the formal social protection schemes of any form.

No scheme specifically covers the workers in the informal sector, may they be home-based women workers or workers in small and unregistered factories or sub-contracted workers of the large-scale manufacturing units.

THE NATION Karachi, May 01, 2009

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Karachi/01-May-2009/Pakistan-lags-behind-in-skilled-women-labour-force