KARACHI: Had we learnt a lesson from the Baldia factory fire incident and taken serious steps to ensure safety of workplaces, the sad incident of Korangi factory fire could have been averted, said labour leaders at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday.

They regretted that the factory owners, related government departments, and society have not given any importance to safety at workplaces. Resultantly, incidents at workplaces have risen sharply. There is no reliable data at the government level about the number of the deceased and injured workers in such incidents.

They said it is a sad fact that factories and workplaces have become mints for industrialists, but butcher houses for the workers. The “industry mafia” has full support of the labour department and law enforcement agencies to exploit their workers.

They said retired officers of law enforcement agencies employed by industrialists have created an atmosphere of fear in workplaces. They said the labour inspection process has virtually ended and the labour department officers are getting salaries from the government but serving the industrialists.

Factories and workplaces have become mints for industrialists, butcheries for workers, say activists

They said that a few days before the ninth anniversary of the Baldia factory fire, BM Luggage Industries Korangi caught fire, which shows that the lives of workers are still not safe at their workplaces. They said 260 workers had burned alive in the Baldia factory fire but not a single criminal was punished.

The speakers said that the most important aspect of the Baldia factory fire, lack of national and international safety standards, was ignored and the incident was given a political colour.

On the basis of the JIT report and political polarisation this sad industrial accident was dubbed as terrorism and the criminal role of the factory owners, as well as labour department officials, was ignored. Resultantly, instead of taking strict safety and health measures at workplaces, these places were made killing fields for innocent workers.

However, in Bangladesh after the incident of the Rana Plaza fire, their government, labour organisations, factory owners and international brands struck a Bangladesh Accord and with its strict implementation not only factories and workplaces were made safer for workers, but the labourers found opportunities to get them organised and get their due rights. Moreover, the number of industrial accidents also decreased.

The same was the case in Germany, where after consultation of many years, a law was passed that if a German company was found involved in any illegal act anywhere in the world, legal action would be taken against it in Germany. The European parliament has also begun consultation to pass such a law.

However, instead of improving industrial atmosphere in Pakistan, the ban on factory inspection slapped by the Zia martial law is still there despite the passage of 45 years, in spite of the fact that as per the Factory Act, annual inspection of every factory to check health and safety measures is a requirement of law.

The system of factory inspection was put on the back burner and as a result deadly industrial accidents are on the rise. It is sad that the Punjab government has announced to end factory inspections altogether, which is an open violation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention.

The speakers said that the “anti-worker attitude” of the Sindh labour department could be seen from the fact that 60 per cent posts in this department have been lying vacant for the last 10 years. As a result, the performance of this department is zero. Had the government of Sindh and its labour department taken strict steps after the sad accident of the Baldia factory, the tragedy of the Korangi factory fire could have been averted.

The Sindh Health and Safety Act was passed in 2016, but it lacks implementation as even a meeting of the council made under this law is yet to be convened. They warned that if the government failed to take immediate steps for health and safety at workplaces, the workers would not allow the unsafe factories and industries to run.

The speakers said that in the present scenario the labour organisations are right to say that the local industrialists, their international buyers, government and its labour-related departments are not ready to give rights to workers as per the Constitution and labour laws of Pakistan. This is why the ratio of making labour unions in Pakistan is less than one per cent. Only four to five per cent of workers are getting benefits under the social security schemes. The illegal contract labour system still prevails. The daily working hours here are 10 to 12 hours without overtime, which is just forced labour.

The apathy of industrialists can be gauged from the fact that when the Sindh government fixed minimum wages at Rs25,000 per month, the industrialists instead of accepting it tried to blackmail the government, besides challenging the minimum wages in the Sindh High Court.

The speakers demanded that the government register a case of murder against the owner of BM Luggage Industry, its administration and the heads of related entities and arrest them immediately.

Their other demands included that the heirs of the deceased should be paid compensation at a rate of Rs2.5 million each, and free medical treatment should be provided to all injured; the payment of pension, group insurance and gratuity be paid immediately to the heirs of the martyred workers; the officials who gave permission to set up an industrial unit in a residential locality be sacked, and that a judicial probe be held into all industrial incidents of this type to fix responsibility and know the reasons behind such incidents.

They also demanded a fresh probe into the Baldia factory fire incident, including the owners of the factory in this investigation.

Those who spoke included Karamat Ali, convener of National Labour Council; Nasir Mansoor, general secretary of National Trade Union Federation Pakistan; Asad Butt, co-chairman Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; Zahra Khan, general secretary of Home Based Women Workers Federation; Saeeda Khatoon, chairperson of Association of the Affectees of Baldia Factory Fire; Riaz Abbasi, secretary SITE Labour Forum, and Akbar Memon, leader of Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2021