Worker abuse

At a time when the government is pushing for an increase in exports, a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has highlighted the plight of textile workers in Pakistan’s garment industry. Almost 15 million garment industry workers in Pakistan face routine abuse at their workplace, including beatings, refusal of toilet breaks, sexual harassment and a denial of their right to unionize. The poor working conditions were highlighted after the Baldia Town factory fire in 2012, but there has been little desire on the part of the government to enact serious reforms in the textile industry. Based on interviews with over 140 people involved in the textile industry, the study has found that textile workers are denied wages, forced to work overtime, denied paid and maternity leave, and mostly given short-term verbal contracts. The last of these means that many textile workers are effectively not on the books of the factory they work in. Only last year, we saw workers’ protests after a leading clothing brand sacked 32 workers for demanding better working conditions.

The real issue, however, is that workers are not allowed to form their own unions. Workers who try to unionise are often fired without compensation while leading union activists find themselves facing fake police cases filed by factory managements. It is no surprise to see that textile and garment associations have rejected the allegations – claiming that foreign companies would stop sourcing if labour standards are flouted in Pakistan. This makes little sense. Most foreign firms are aware of the poor regulations in countries like Pakistan, which is exactly why they move their business there. The argument by some labour officials that ‘workers would not work if they were unhappy’ only serves to show how blatant the disregard for workers welfare in the country is.

The HRW report makes special mention of gendered discrimination in the garments sector, in which over 30 percent of the workforce is made up of women. Pregnant women are often sacked, women who ask for bathroom breaks are made fun of while few women are employed as permanent workers in the industry. The sector contributing 70 percent to the country’s exports and 8.5 percent of Pakistan’s GDP is ripe for labour unrest. If the textile industry fails to rectify the situation, it will only have itself to blame once the worker finally takes to the streets.