Agriculture workers register trade union in Sindh

KARACHI: Sindh has become the first province to recognise women and men in the agriculture and fishery sector as workers under law and has registered the first ever trade union for the sector.
A statement said that the Sindh Agriculture and Fishing Workers Union (SAFWU) was registered with the office of the Registrar Trade Unions, Karachi under the provisions of Sindh Industrial Relations Act, 2013. The union currently has 400 members, of which 180 are women, all belonging to various districts of Sindh.
The agriculture sector, despite employing approximately 60 percent of workforce, was outside the purview of labour laws. Sindh government amended the Industrial Relations Act and extended labour laws to agriculture and fishery sector workers, including the right to organise and form unions.
“This is a great day for us,” said SAFWU Chairperson Rafia Gilani, “But the work has only begun. We have formed our Union, held its first Convention with International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) support and today we are registered with the government. Now the union has to train workers on their rights and what it means to be part of a Trade Union and strengthen its finances. We will also strive for the international affiliation of the union.”
The amendment to the law and the establishment of the SAFWU was supported by the ILO project, Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE), funded by the Canadian government.