The labouring poor in the informal sector of Pakistan and other south Asian countries are living under horrific conditions, with no relief or social security being provided to them. These issues related to the labour class were highlighted in a seminar organised jointly by the South Asia Partnership-Pakistan and the Pakistan Institute for Labour Education and Research (PILER) at the SAP-PK office.
The theme was ‘Labouring Poor in South Asia: Challenges of Expanding in Formalisation’. German Sociologist Professor Jan Breman was the chief guest at this event. He is a well known figure, as he has been working on the labouring poor’s plight and related issues as a researcher in India for half a century and is on a goodwill visit to Pakistan.
While giving a keynote address on ‘Labouring Poor in Pakistan and Poverty’, Professor Berman raised his concerns over the pathetic plight of the starving labourers of south Asian countries. He said there is a very close relationship between poverty and the labouring class. In Pakistan, the labour and working class is totally powerless and invisible. These people work very hard but always remain poor because they are not considered or acknowledged by the state, government and the politicians or political parties and are never on their political agendas.
Professor Breman expressed his apprehensions that there is no space for them regarding what the masses feel about them. With reference to his research, he elaborated that the labouring poor rights are being denied by the government because there is no fair counting of laborers and their poor working condition, during the national census.
According to the government’s facts for 2008, there are only 17.2 percent of the labouring poor in India. He said he was surprised to know that the Pakistani labourers are being neglected despite their deep connections with the economic and social crises in Pakistan.
The professor said capitalism is the root cause of unemployment and the labouring poor’s problems. PILER Executive Director Kramat Ali also highlighted the issues of the labouring class saying that 90 percent of the labourers are working in the informal sector.
He said the private and government organisations do not give equal status tot heir workers. Talking on the implications of the Industrial Relations Law, he said it was a discriminatory labour law that had stopped the workers from unionising.
He highlighted the issue of the contract system, which he said was damaging for the labouring poor. He stated that most of the women are home-based workers, who are deprived of legal or social security.
Working Women Organisation Director and a labour leader, Rubeena Jamil said the policy of promoting the informal sector has been tactfully manipulated to minimise the wages of workers to raise the profits and capital. She said the civil society must intervene and stop such illegal practices. SAP-PK Deputy Director Irfan Mufti demanded that the labourers of Pakistan be accepted as workers by the state and given their rights of social and job security.
