Civil society organisations say delay in enforcing policy paper
undermining workers’ interests
The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and HomeNet Pakistan, an association of home-based women workers, have demanded immediate implementation of the policy paper on home-based workers, saying the paper was supposed to be out by the end of December 2016, but to date it has not yet seen the light of the day.
Representatives of the civil society organisations made the demand while addressing a joint news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday afternoon.
The delay in the implementation of the policy compromised the interests of millions of home-based workers (HBWs) in Sindh and put them in a helpless situation, they said.
“It is time to give protection to the home-based and domestically operating workers who constitute the majority of Pakistan’s informal economy,” they said.
Agha Hyder of HomeNet Pakistan said that it indeed was a step forward in the recognition of the rights of the home-based workers, but at the same time it was imperative for the government of Sindh to develop a comprehensive plan of action for the implementation of the policy by involving the stakeholders.
Karamat Ali, director of Piler, said that home-based workers had no protection, and their contribution to the economy must be acknowledged. These women workers, he said, had no security, no privileges that workers are supposed to enjoy. He appealed for their quick registration as industrial workers.
As for the non-implementation of the overly delayed policy, he said that it was all because of the feudals and capitalists who were entrusted with the implementation and they were least interested in the welfare of the financially challenged classes.
It was a case of the extreme apathy of the rich towards the poor, he added.
Ali said that the International Labour Organisation had passed a law in this regard, an ILO Convention to which Pakistan was a signatory. It was 20 years now that the convention was passed, but it still had to see the light of the day in Pakistan.
Aurat Foundation President Mehnaz Rehman said the home-based workers were working for the interests of the industry and as such they should get the same privileges and perks as the industrial workers.
“Women are the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and need to be recognised as workers and contributors to the GDP,” she said.
Farhat Fatima of Piler said, “On the eve of International Women’s Day, women workers vow that they will continue the struggle for their recognition as the workforce and entitled protection. Time has come to include the women in the informal economy in the government’s plans.”
