Govt urged to amend ‘century-old’ mines act

KARACHI: Marking a ‘Black Day’ for mine workers on Friday, trade unionists said that the government should amend the “century-old” Mines Act along modern lines and take strict measures to implement the law as this indifference was continuously taking lives.

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, labour activists said that the federal and provincial governments, owners and contractors were directly responsible for the unfortunate incidents in which workers are killed because there are no occupational safety and health facilities in mines across the country.

The presser was held by representatives of the National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, Pakistan Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mines and General Workers Union, Home-Based Women Workers Federation and Thar Coal Workers Union.

They said that according to an estimate, at least 200 mineworkers are killed each year in the country and have to suffer long working hours, inadequate pay and diseases like tuberculosis, headaches and myopia among others. They added there was no imposition of the Mines Act, 1923 nor of the Coal Mines (fixation of rates of wages) Ordinance, 1960.

“Around one per cent of the global workforce is associated with mines while their mortality rate is above eight per cent. Though there have had been improvements in working conditions in some countries yet each year 12,000 workers die at workplaces. Pakistan, however, is among the countries where these conditions are the worst,” one speaker said.

The activists said that in gold, copper, iron ore, diamond and coal mines in Swat, Kohat, Machh, Bolan, Sanjdi, Dagari, Tharparkar, Lakhra, Meting, Khuzdar, Nall, Khewra, Dandot and Mingora, thousands of workers were suffering inhumane working conditions and had no provision of health, death grants and pension facilities.

They said that despite earning billions in revenues, the employers had in collusion with the authorities turned the mine industry into a beggar’s camp where workers had not right to unionise.

They deplored that in the past 70 years, the government neither has made a policy for mine workers nor ratified the International Labour Organization’s Convention 176 on safety and health in mines, while 33 countries of the world have already adopted it to better the working conditions.

Talking about Pakistan, they said that the country was rich in mineral resources and to benefit out of it, several multinational companies were also investing in the mine industry here. They said that one of the reasons of having the highest casualty rate was the employment of outdated methods in mining.

They said that most of the mines were under “soft mountains” that collapsed in rains resulting in deaths of workers, while similarly, gas blasts in mines were also killing workers. They pointed out that there was no data of workers who died a slow death because of the diseases they got from their workplaces.

“In Thar, some local and foreign countries are extracting coal and despite earning handsomely they were not even paying the minimum wage to workers. They were made to work 12 hours a day and in the end were paid Rs400 (less than $4) only. Plus, they were denied holidays. On top of it, a renowned company has not even paid the workers for past three months,” they claimed.

The speakers demanded that government ratify ILO Convention 176, prepare a policy for mine workers, legislate on modern lines, start tripartite consultation to bring betterment, give workers the right to unionise, and implement the labour and health and safety laws.