میں اپنے نام کی چھٹی منا نہیں سکتا
مزدور ہوں، خالی ہاتھ گھر جا نہیں سکتا
I cannot celebrate a holiday in my name
I am a labourer, I cannot go home empty-handed
Each year, on 1 May, International Labour Day, an official holiday for workers and employees, is celebrated across the globe. This significant day, also known as May Day and Workers Day, is commemorated to pay tribute to the martyrs of Chicago, symbolising the struggle of workers for their rights and decent working conditions. Domestic labour organisations, federations, confederations and even the International Labour Organisation (ILO) raise their demands, set their targets and resolve to achieve their goals. Whereas, governments and state actors also express their support for labourers and announce incentives as customary practice.
Pakistan has a long way to go to ensure international labour standards in the country. In Pakistan, one of the worst forms of labour exploitation – forced labour or bonded labour – is prevalent across industrial, agricultural and mining sectors. According to a conservative estimate, more than 4.5 million people are subjected to forced labour at the kilns alone. Besides, more than 60 per cent of the workforce in these sectors consists of women, who suffer forced labour as well as sexual harassment and exploitation. In addition, the unregulated sector of domestic labour is another area in which women and children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s pledge to revive the scholarship scheme for child labourers at brick kilns in her inaugural speech, and subsequent announcement of Mazdoor Cards for industrial workers gives us hope that things would turn around for workers of the country.
Currently, forced labourers are victims of inter-district and inter-provincial trafficking in persons. Brick kilns are an industrial sector and its labour is entitled to the rights guaranteed by the constitution and the law of Pakistan. Unfortunately, brick kiln owners are unwilling to grant those legal rights to the labourers working for them. Hence brick kiln owners keep shifting them from one kiln to another, and sell their services at whim. Young girls and boys are also smuggled abroad and sold into slavery. It’s a tragedy that children born in brick kilns do not have access to educational institutions that are built with bricks made by their hands.
Brick kiln workers are extremely vulnerable as most of them are not registered at birth, do not have identity cards and are not free to choose their employers. They work in inhuman conditions, with no washrooms, clean drinking water and living quarters suitable for human habitation. Women are especially vulnerable as they have to go out in the open for defecation and are subjected to sexual assaults. Access to education and health is non-existent. Women give birth at kilns without the supervision of trained medical staff. These labourers get exploited because most of them do not have shelter and take refuge with kiln owners and landowners.
©️ILO PAKISTAN
In the last 10 years, the Bonded Labour Liberation Front and other labour rights organisations engaged parliamentarians to end bonded labour, trafficking in persons, discrimination against minorities, and exploitation of workers.
We advocate for the establishment of a regulatory authority for the protection of agricultural workers, who are currently working without any government oversight.
As a result of these engagements, in 2014, an international labour conference was held in Pakistan, in which brick kiln workers were declared the 4th most vulnerable community. The then chief minister of Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif, himself visited brick kilns and started education programmes for child labourers, enrolling more than 87,000 children in primary schools and allocating more than Rs5 billion for their social welfare. These were very encouraging developments that happened after persistent advocacy for the rights of bonded labour. Unfortunately, when the government changed in 2018, all these welfare initiatives were gradually stopped by the incoming PTI government.
As PML-N once again assumed charge of the federal government and the largest province of the country, we are heartened that it has not forgotten the promises it made to the labour community. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s pledge to revive the scholarship scheme for child labourers at brick kilns in her inaugural speech, and subsequent announcement of Mazdoor Cards for industrial workers gives us hope that things would turn around for workers of the country. Soon after assuming office, she chaired a special meeting on workers’ safety in the province and directed the comprehensive compilation of data on labourers and daily wagers across the province.
The chief minister discussed the issuance of social security registration cards and the review of labour laws in Punjab. She also ordered the establishment of an international standard lab to identify risks faced by daily wagers, enhancing their safety and security. Additionally, she instructed the activation of the Occupational Safety and Health Mobile Lab Project to protect workers. The CM emphasised the need for effective legislation to protect young bike riders providing rider services. She committed to providing homes for daily wagers by constructing labour colonies.
We are encouraged by these initiatives and hope that she will make focused efforts to eradicate forced labour, despite the immense challenges in front of her. We trust that she will overcome these challenges just like she overcame the challenges in her political journey.
Through this magazine, I urge Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to end forced labour in Punjab and make it a model for other provinces. The government should also ensure the implementation of labour laws across the province. There are only 14 labour inspectors in Punjab, who are not even properly trained. We urge the government to increase the number of inspectors according to the volume of labour and train them properly so that they help end exploitative forms of labour in the province.
We also advocate for the establishment of a regulatory authority for the protection of agricultural workers, who are currently working without any government oversight. We would like the government to allocate a quota for the labour class in all government schemes related to health, education, and home ownership. We also urge the government to register labourers into the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) database and issue them computerised national identity cards because, without this document, they are unable to access basic services and voting rights.
Bonded Labour Liberation Front is planning to establish the first Freedom Research Resource Centre through which we will conduct research on workers’ issues, provide them with training and political education and address their issues related to their livelihood. We would like the government to collaborate with us in this endeavour.
Unless forced labour and child labour are eradicated from Pakistan, we cannot become part of civilised nations. This grave issue demands a strong political will and decisive action. History shows that when a government firmly commits to a cause, transformative change is possible. We believe that Maryam Nawaz possesses the leadership and determination needed to spearhead this mission. By ending forced labour in Punjab, a crucial first step will be taken towards eliminating this scourge from the country. We urge the government to collaborate with us to end forced labour, poverty, and injustice. Together, we can build a future where every Pakistani enjoys the dignity and freedom they deserve.
The writer is the General Secretary of Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan and a recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award 2015.
