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24 July, 2006
Trade union rallies, protests and strong and bitter objections are being heard across Pakistan to harsh and draconian changes to the country’s labour code.
Five major trade union centres have marched, posted letters, distributed literature, and even promoted and participated in a one-day hunger strike on 20 July in protest to, in the words of one Asian NGO, legislative changes that take “Pakistan’s working conditions back to the 17th century.”
A month ago, the National Assembly’s House of Representatives – without Senate consent – passed changes to Pakistan’s Finance Bill, which effectively increased daily work hours, reduced overtime compensation, and created a new category of “contract worker” not entitled to legal compensation for overtime work.
The legalisation of contract work with no overtime pay will open the floodgates in Pakistan for employers to use large numbers of people as temporary workers well into the future. By amending just one statute in the framework of the Finance Bill, daily working hours have been increased from eight to 12.
Another amendment abolishes the country’s compulsory closed weekly holiday, while others will target women for more work and less family life. A provision in the Finance Bill amends the Factories Act, allowing women workers now to work up until 22h00 in two daily shifts. Prior, women were prohibited from working before sunrise and after sunset.
Trade union leaders in Pakistan, and the world over, are declaring the changes inhumane, in violation of international labour standards and ILO Conventions, and against the spirit of the Constitution of Pakistan. Leaders inside Pakistan also consider the procedure for adopting the labour amendments as unconstitutional and illegal. They say the direct result will be rampant labour exploitation, especially to those people already marginalised within society.