Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan The Year 2014 Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan The Year 2014 Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research PILER PILER acknoweldges financial support of the Solidarity Centre for this publication. Advisor Karamat Ali Editor Zeenat Hisam Section One Zeenat Hisam Section Two Dr. Hafiz Pasha Nasir Jamal Dr. Anjum Altaf Dr. Kaiser Bengali Aasim Sajjad Akhtar Dr. Pervez Tahir Arif Hasan and Mansoor Raza Shahid Anwar Bajwa Syed M. Ghazenfur Zeenia Shaukat Soonha Abro Design & Layout K.B. Abro First Published: ISBN 978-969-9153-16-7 Printed at Print Vision Published by: Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research PILER Centre ST-001, Sector X, Sub-Sector V, Gulshan-e-Maymar Karachi 75340 Pakistan Contents Foreword 5 Section One 7 1. Introduction: Year 2014 9 National Context War on Terror Anti-Terrorism Law Economic Overview Human Development Indicators 2. Legislative Changes 13 Four Years after 18th Amendment Labour legislation: The Missing Framwork Legislation in the Provinces 3. Labour Conditions 18 Labour Market Information Labour Market Indicators Minimum wages Occupational Safety and Health Trade Unions Labour Struggles 4. Labour Struggles 24 Public Sector: Against Privatisation Corporate Sector Informal Sector Section Two 27 Special Articles 1. GSP Plus and the Status of Labour 29 Dr. Hafiz Pasha 2. Textile Industry and Compliance: One Year After GSP Plus 43 Nasir Jamal 3. Interaction of Labour Law and Economic Growth 51 Dr. Anjum Altaf 4. Land Tenure System and the Peasantry in Sindh 65 Dr. Kaiser Bengali 5. Okara Peasants Movement: 14 Years After 71 Aasim Sajjad Akhtar 6. Privatisation: Implication on Labour 79 Dr. Pervez Tahir 7. Impact of regional conflict on power looms in Karachi 87 Arif Hasan & Mansoor Raza 8. Labour Laws after 18th Amendment 99 Shahid Anwar Bajwa 9. Trade Unions under Labour Laws 105 Syed M. Ghazenfur 10. Brief Profiles: EOBI and SESSI 111 Zeenia Shaukat 11. Legislation on Sexual Harassment: Issues in Implementation 117 Soonha Abro 12. Pakistan’s Textile: Trapping of the Value Chain Zeenia Shaukat Foreword he task of capturing the status of labour in all its diverse aspects is onerous. Particularly in a country where the State keeps shedding its responsibilities of regulation, documentation, inspection, and monitoring of the complex world of work, where culture is heavily tilted towards oral tradition rather Tthan written, where informal economy is the norm and where social justice and human and labour rights lay at the bottom of the policy-makers' agenda. Despite constraints to acquiring accurate data, useful insights and analyses, and with limited resources, PILER, in recent years, has initiated to review the changing trends in labour and employment, and the factors impacting on workers' lives and the terms and conditions of work. The review also documents the workers' struggles to con- front repressing forces let loose by deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation. This report, fourth in the series, is yet another modest attempt to put together glimpses of the world of work in Pakistan and present a picture of the current sta- tus of labour in the country. The first section of the report, based on secondary research, gives an overview of the socio-economic and political context, human development indicators, legislative development, labour market indicators and the existing terms and conditions of employment. The second section of the report pres- ents a collection of research articles, case studies, and analyses of trends and issues related to labour and employment. PILER is greatly indebted to the researchers and writers who contributed to this section. Zeenat Hisam Senior Research Associate March 2015 Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan 5 Section One 8 Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan Introduction: The Year 2014 National Context hough the year 2014 began with a note of cautious optimism nurtured by the smooth transfer of democratic rule in May 2013, it was soon clear that peace and prosperity for the common citizenry would remain a dream. The year 2014 turned out to be as turbulent and eventful as previous years and Twitnessed a number of disasters, both man-made and natural, impacting the workers the most. Labour issues remained the least debated in the national discourse. The only positive development, that can be construed as silver lining for labour was the granting of the GSP Plus scheme under the EU trade program from January 2014. As the GSP Plus is conditional to compliance to eight ILO core labour conventions out of 27 international standards and covenants, there was a ray of hope that the gov- ernment would now give attention to compliance issues. Terrorist attacks, fueled by rising religious extremism, spiraled in the early months adversely impacting economic growth in all sectors and causing among populace a feeling of insecurity, extreme anxiety and anguish at the loss of human lives. A full- fledged military operation, Zarb-e-Azb was launched in North Waziristan in June to flush out militant groups from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The opera- tion led to an unprecedented displacement of a very large number of people and destruction of their livelihoods. From August onward, the political scene was dominated by protest marches and sit- ins led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) against election riggings and for electoral reforms. The sit-ins and the clashes between the ruling party and the protesting parties in different cities also affected the economy and diverted attention from core issues. According to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan estimates, the direct cost of the sit-ins to the economy amounted to Rs. 150 billion per day.1 The PAT wound up its march in October when its leader flew back to Canada. The PTI persisted but called off the sit-ins after the 16 December massacre of children at the Peshawar’s Army Public School by the militants. Due to prolonged drought conditions, entire Tharparker district was declared a Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan 9 People have suffered repeated crises in the recent past. Internal conflict and militancy have caused extensive damage to infrastructure and livelihoods and disrupted the momentum of economic development. The origins of the militancy can be traced to the multiple deprivations suffered by KP's people, including the inadequate and inequitable provision of social services (particularly education and health), widespread unemployment, and a poorly responsive state. 'Integrated Development Strategy 2014-2018, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa calamity-affected area at the end of February. In the absence of long term drought mitigation strategy, the population of 1.5 million suffered drastically. Malnutrition led to the loss of 521 lives, mostly children, and 259,946 families were affected.2 Many communities were forced to migrate in search of livelihood. Late and heavy monsoon rains in September caused havoc in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir and flooded southern Punjab. The floods affected 2.53 million people, damaged 2.4 million acres of crops, and resulted in loss of 367 human lives.3 In May, the WHO imposed international travel restrictions due to the polio crisis. A very high number of polio cases (268) surfaced in 2014, breaking records of the last 12 years. Globally, 80 per cent of the cases of polio in 2014 happened in Pakistan. During 2014, the attacks on polio team members by the extremists resulted in 45 deaths, injuries to 18 and kidnapping of 19 persons.4 War on Terror The country remained in war in 2014. The 'War on Terror' that began in 2002, had claimed lives of 60,0005 Pakistanis by December 2014. The latest offensive, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, was launched on 15 June in North Waziristan and targeted terrorists' cells and hideouts in various parts of the country, killing 2000 militants by the end of December6. Though the operation was supported by a larger number of political parties, including religious parties, the war, despite being endemic, remained fraught with ambiguity and conflict, and failed to register fully on the collective con- sciousness of the people. The internally displaced persons, who lost their homes, their livelihoods and their assets, were a forgotten people, their plight and their exis- tence treated as 'collateral damage' - a damage that you do not talk about, that remains just a cold and neutral terminology in the prevalent discourse on war. By 20 November 2014, the number of displaced families had reached 304,992.7 Most of the 2.1 million internally displaced people, including children, took refuge in three camps - two in KP province and one in FATA — while many opted to live with rel- atives in congested space.8 The displaced persons particularly those temporarily residing in the KP province, protested through rallies, against inadequate facilities, the promises not honoured by the authorities and against media attention hijacked by the political sit-ins and marches. The displaced persons in Bannu and Bara took out rallies in June, August, and September against food shortage, substandard food, non-distribution of relief goods, sale of relief goods in open market, and difficulties 10 Status of Labour Rights in Pakistan in accessing national identity cards. In November a riot broke out in a camp in Bannu and nine people were injured when police opened fire. Children's education was affected and health of women also compromised. Displacement also took its toll on mental health of the people. The effect of war and displacement on people's livelihoods has been immense. The cost of war in the year 2013-2014 alone amounted to Rs. 701 billion9 and the worst affected province was Khyber Pakhtunkwa. The Swat farming system, along with its orchards, fruit processing industries, cold storages, dry storages and transportation and marketing mechanism, was ruined.