First Domestic Workers, Agriculture and Fishing Workers’ Trade Union in Pakistan Registered in Karachi

Karachi: Sindh has become the first province to recognise women and men in the agriculture and fishery sector as workers under law and has registered the first ever trade union for this sector. The Sindh Agriculture and Fishing Workers Union (SAFWU) was registered yesterday with the office of the Registrar Trade Unions, Karachi under the provisions of Sindh Industrial Relations Act, 2013. The union currently has 400 members of which 180 are women, all belonging to various districts of Sindh.

The agriculture sector, a major source of income, revenue and employment for Pakistan, employing approximately 60% of workforce, has always been outside the purview of labour laws. After the devolution, the Government of Sindh amended the Industrial Relations Act and extended labour laws to agriculture and fishery sector workers, including the right to organize and form unions.

“This is a great day for us”, said Ms. Rafia Gilani, Chairperson of the Union, “But the work has only begun. We have formed our Union, held its first Convention with ILO’s support and today we are registered with the government. Now the union has to train workers on their rights and what it means to be part of a Trade Union and strengthen its finances. We will also strive for the international affiliation of the union.”

The amendment to the law and the establishment of the Agriculture and Fishing Workers’ Trade Union was supported by the ILO project, Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE), funded by the Canadian government. Several office bearers who led this effort to form the Union were trained by GE4DE on leadership, gender equality and paralegal skills and were supported in registering the union. The project, which aims to improve women’s skills and employment by working with government, employers, workers and media, identified agriculture as a sector where many women were employed in the most vulnerable, unprotected conditions.Despite these decent work deficits, agriculture and fishing sector is an important source of employment for women in particular, many of whom do not have the skills or education to find alternative employment in the rural economy.

Mr Gulfam Memon, Joint Director Labour and Gender Focal Person, Department of Labour, Sindh said that the registration of the Union was an important step in turning the law into action. “This will help agriculture and fishery sector workers negotiate better working conditions and enhance social safety nets and occupational safety and health coverage”.

Addressing the Founding convention of the Sindh Agriculture and Fishing Workers Union (SAFWU), Mr. Zahoor Awan, General Secretary, Pakistan Workers Federation and member of the ILO Governing Body said that the government of Sindh had done remarkable work in giving the right to unionize to the workers of the agriculture and fishing sectors. “Though Pakistan has ratified the ILO convention C-11, (Right of Association, Agriculture Convention) and also ILO core conventions including C-89 and 98 on the right to form unions and collectively bargain for their rights, Sindh is the only province to turn this commitment into law, and this should be an example for other provinces”.

Speaking on the occasion, representative of the ILO Pakistan Office, Syed Hassan Rizvi, Senior Programme Assistant, said that this was particularly important for women. “An increasing number of women work in the agriculture and fishery sector, often at the lower, more vulnerable parts of the value chain. Unfortunately their productive contribution often goes uncounted and remains invisible. Being part of a union gives them the opportunity to come together and make their voice heard, make their demands and negotiate better recognition and rewards for their work.” He also conveyed to the workers in the founding convention the message of good wishes from the Country Director of the ILO Pakistan Office. He said that ILO would continue supporting government, employers and workers to provide necessary support to the agriculture sector workers, to strengthen their capacities and to impart education and training to them.’

Meanwhile, Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) has formed the Domestic Workers’ Trade Union, the very first union of its kind in Pakistan. The ‘Domestic Workers’ Union’ has been registered with the Office of the Registrar Trade Unions, Lahore under the provisions of the Punjab Industrial Relations, 2010. The Union currently has 235 members out of which 225 are female domestic workers. PWF is now in the process registering the Union with the global ‘International Domestic Workers’ Federation’.

“We take care of some of the most important things in our employers’ lives, their homes, their children, their food, but our work is not considered important.” Says Ms Shamsad Murree domestic worker in Lahore who has been trained by the project, and is now the Vice President of the Domestic Workers’ Union. “Now that I have the skills and I am part of a trade union, I feel confident in negotiating better wages and terms and conditions for work”.

This Domestic Workers’ Trade Union was established under the ILO project, Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE), funded by the Canadian government.

The project, which aims to improve women’s skills and employment by working with government, employers, workers and media, identified domestic work as a sector where many women were employed in the most vulnerable, unprotected conditions, completely outside the purview of labour laws. Millions of workers including women, girls and boys are engaged in domestic work in Pakistan and are contributing to the informal economy significantly.

They are not recognized as ‘workers’ as per the definition of workers set in the national labour laws whose definition only covers workers in the formal sector, working in factories, shops and formal establishments. Without any legal protection they often have to work in exploitative conditions, without any regulation of working hours, terms of employment or wages.

Despite these decent work deficits, domestic work is an important source of employment for women in particular, many of whom do not have the skills or education to find alternative employment. It is also important to remember, that their work, helps free up their employers’ time to engage in work and leisure, something particularly important for female employers. Recognising the importance of domestic work, the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), provides guidance and benchmarks to ensure decent work in the domestic work sector. To date, a total of 17 countries have ratified the convention. Though Pakistan has not ratified the convention, making domestic work safe, secure and properly paid is a priority of the government, with all provincial departments of Labour identifying domestic work as a policy priority.

In Pakistan, the ILO is working with the Women’s Development Department Punjab, All Pakistan Women’s Association, College of Tourism and Hotel Management and Pakistan Workers’ Federation to train women on globally benchmarked skills for domestic workers, workers’ rights, and to organise them into trade unions, to improve their skills and knowledge and in turn, their employment prospects, wages and conditions.

“The initiative also includes the piloting a model contract between employer and employee and a grievance redressal system. So far 400 domestic workers have been trained and are now being helped by a placement officer, to find jobs in conditions of decent work”, explained Razi Mujtaba Haider, Programme Officer, ILO.

Tahir Manzoor, Director, Department of Labour and Gender Focal Person, Punjab, said the registration of the Union was an important step in recognising domestic workers and workers under law. “Now steps should be taken to establish minimum wages and expanding access to social security schemes.”