Labour leaders decry exploitation of ‘discount workers’

Speakers at a film screening about the Baldia garment factory fire on Sunday expressed regret that there is no respite in Pakistan from the exploitation of “discount workers”.

The National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) and the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, arranged the screening of a documentary, titled ‘Discount Workers’, made by German film-makers Christopher Patz and Ammar Aziz.

The documentary covered different aspects of the struggle of the people affected by the Baldia garment factory fire, from the local courts to the German court and other international forums. NTUF General Secretary Nasir Mansoor said that a decade has already passed since the tragedy of the Baldia garment factory fire, but the overall conditions at Pakistan’s factories and workplaces are almost the same.

He said that due to the struggle of workers, a law about safety and health at workplaces has already been passed, but its rules are yet to be formed to ensure the law’s implementation. Karamat Ali of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research said that in 1911 a major fire had broken out at a textile factory in New York, but hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets and, resultantly, many laws were formulated to improve the working conditions.

Zahra Khan of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation said that this documentary has helped raise awareness, and the German parliament also made a law that German buyers would be responsible if the working conditions are not proper at factories anywhere in the world that produce goods for their brands.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said that there are two nations: the rich and the poor. He said that the poor should be united to safeguard their rights. Lawyer Faisal Siddiqui said that due to the struggle of the people affected by the Baldia garment factory fire, many milestones have already been achieved.

He said Pakistan’s courts ensured the payment of compensation to the affected workers and their families within four years. He said that steps taken by the International Labour Organisation and the German parliament are also of a historic nature.

Film-maker Sabiha Soomar, Saeeda Khatoon of the Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees Association, Christopher Patz and Ammar Aziz also spoke on the occasion. Patz presented a cheque on behalf of German comrades for Pakistan’s flood victims.