Miners’ protests

This past Friday saw protests by national trade unions against the deaths of over 200 miners every year. After the ‘Black Day’ on Friday, the onus is now on the government to address the serious lapses that have led to Pakistan’s mining sector still operating like it is stuck in the 19thcentury. One of the key demands is the amendment of the almost century-old Mines Act 1923. The act remains woefully inadequate in addressing the challenges of a modern mining sector, nor is it adequate to address the challenges of a mining sector working on such centuries-old techniques. If the existing law was implemented, conditions would still be better. The fact is that occupational safety and health facilities have not been provided to our miners despite numerous mining incidents in the last two decades. And the situation has only gotten worse for mining workers. Just in the last two weeks, over 10 miners were reported dead in multiple mining incidents. There is certainly a strong case for a moratorium on mining until the safety issues are fixed.

Workers’ unions have demanded that owners, contractors and the federal and provincial governments should all be held responsible for the miners’ deaths across the country. Mining workers are provided neither safe working conditions nor minimum wage. Their deaths only confirm the scale of the inhumane conditions under which they work in the country. Unions have reported that thousands of miners suffer similar conditions in gold, copper, diamond and coal mines in Pakistan. It would not be wrong to see the mining sector as a forced labour camp. In fact, Pakistan has even failed to ratify the ILO convention on health and safety in mines. While the death of workers in accidents is still catalogued, there is no data on workers who die from diseases suffered from the workplace. Mining workers in the first world used to be considered the cream of the working class, who were provided housing, high wages and pension benefits. These were the product of gains from historic strikes by mining unions. In Pakistan, terrible working conditions exist in the absence of organised mining labour. The government will not stop its criminal negligence against mining workers until there is a strong push back. The protests are a reminder that it must take action sooner rather than later if it wishes to avoid that.