Karachi, October 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):A huge rally of home-based workers here on Wednesday was staged on the occasion of international home-based workers day and it demanded of the government of Sindh to immediately start the process of registration of home-based workers.
As per details, a huge rally was staged by the Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) that marched from Fawara Chowk to Karachi Press Club (KPC). A large number of home-based workers belonging to different sectors participated in the rally, led by HBWWF general secretary Zehra Khan and raised slogans for their demands.
Addressing the rally, Zehra Khan said the home-based workers of Sindh through their untiring struggle have successfully got their legal status and identity recognized, which is a historic event not only in Pakistan but also in the region. She said that sadly despite the passage of this law, its implementation is negligible. She said that though in Sindh there is a law about home-based workers, but practically the home-based workers of the province are not getting their due rights.
She said till today the HBWWF has got filled the registration forms of more 3000 home-based workers but the Sindh Labour Department has not completed the process of registering these workers. She said the registration process is being lengthened, unnecessarily. She said despite passage of one year the forms of these home-based workers could not be verified and recorded. She said if these delaying tactics were not stopped the workers would besiege the Sindh assembly.
Khan said that the back-breaking price hike coupled with Covid situation has made the life of common man miserable and the families of home-based workers are also badly affected. She said home-based women workers could not make their both ends met despite working for long hours. They are deprived of minimum wages. She said in 2019 the Sindh government set a good example for issuing an official notification to include glass bangles industry in the list of industries covered under the Sindh Minimum Wage Board. She said; however, this notification could not be implemented as yet and today these workers are given wages of less than two US dollars per day. She said we strongly demand of the government of Sindh to accelerate the process of registration of home-based workers and fixing their wages.
Addressing on the occasion, Saira Feroze, general secretary United Home-based Garments Workers Union said that the government of Sindh has given identity to hundreds of thousands unknown home-based workers, but the real success would be when that this law is being practically implemented. She said increase in the wages of home-based workers is non or negligible, while due to the Covid their real wages have already dropped. She regretted that the price hike in increasing with every passing day, but the wages of workers are not being increased. She said resultantly, poverty, hunger and diseases are on a sharp rise. She said prices of food items, medicines, gas and electricity are being hiked continuously.
National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) General Secretary Nasir Mansoor said that more than 16million home-based workers of Pakistan are being more burdened with harsh conditions attacked to the loans of International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said for a loan of $6billion whole country and its 25 Crore population are pawned to the IMF. He said it is bitter fact that Pakistan no longer is an independent nation but a slave of the IMF.
He said that the government and opposition both have no solution to this problem. He said the nation and country has to fight another war of independence to get rid of the slavery of these international lenders, adding the working class would play an important role in this war. He appealed to the progressive, pro-people democratic parties and labour organizations to guide the nation how to steer the country clear of this crisis. He said they should also announce a joint struggle against poverty, hunger, price hike and joblessness.
At the end of the rally, the participants demanded of the government of Sindh to speed up the process of registration of home-based workers and issue workers’ cards to them. They asked that the home-based workers should be registered with the social security departments and in this regard proper legislations should be carried out. They said that like the glass bangle industry, the Sindh Minimum Wage Board should also determine the minimum wages of the home-based workers of other sectors. They asked the workers of glass bangle industry should be given wages as per the notification of 2019.
They asked that the workers of supply chain should be given a legal identity and allowed to form their labour unions. They demanded that the government of Sindh should earmark an annual budget for welfare of the home-based workers.
The rally participants demanded to increases the wages in proportion with the price hike. The anti-people policies dictated by the IMF should be shunned. Fifty percent cut should be announced in non-development expenditures. Import of luxury good should be banned. The rates of edibles, medicines, electricity and gas should be reduced.
Those spoke on the occasion included Karamat Ali of National Labour Council, Aniy Muhammad Yunus and Sajida Kausar of HBWWF, Jamila Abdul Latif of Home-based Women Bangle Workers Union, Ruqia Muhammad Hanif of United HB Workers Union, Maimona, Zahida, Nadra and others.
For more information, contact:
Home Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF)
726, Mashrique Centre, Block 14, Gulshan-e-Iqbal,
Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-37075324
Website: https://hbwwf.org/
