POLITICAL parties seek the mandate to run the country and provinces based on the agenda they plan to launch. Thus, they can be held accountable for their pledges.

Of the 207 million population of Pakistan, 106m are registered voters (18 and above). Nearly 15 per cent of these voters are above the normal retirement age of 60 years. More than 90pc of them are part of the working-age population (15-64 years) and are thus the direct beneficiaries of the policies that will be crafted by the next government.

The services sector engages 42.4pc of the workforce, followed by agriculture (42.3pc) and manufacturing (15.3pc). Labour force participation for women is only 28pc and the gender wage gap 26pc. More employment is being generated in the informal sector (72.5pc), which is unregulated and unaccounted for. Three-fifths (60pc) of employment is “vulnerable employment”, a combination of own-account work and unpaid contributing family work. Only 40pc of the 69m persons in the labour force are employed as “wage and salaried employees”, and nearly 70pc of these employees are employed without contract; only 50pc receive their wages regularly.

Of the 9m in the formal workforce sector, only 1.4m are unionised. While there are more than 7,000 registered trade unions in the country, only 1,400 have been able to sign collective agreements with their employers, leaving millions out of the purview of collective bargaining rights. Those trapped in modern forms of slavery are estimated at 2.13m by the Global Slavery Index.

One would expect parties to be full of plans for work opportunities.

Thus, you would expect party manifestos to be full of plans for the provision of decent work opportunities. Considering that more than 25pc of our population is composed of the young (15-29 years), let’s look at the employment creation, job placement and vocational training programmes.

Both the PTI and PML-N aim to create 2m jobs a year over the next five years, but do not refer to quality. It is not that employment is not being generated, but that it is more in the informal sector, thanks to the casualisation of jobs in the economy. Thus, it is not “productive and gainful employment” as required under SDG-8. Current employment is characterised by slavery wages, hidden unemployment or underemployment, hazardous working conditions, discrimination and violence at workplaces. The PPP, however, plans to provide public-sector jobs to at least one member per family.

All party manifestos provide for employment exchanges — labour exchange (PTI), employment bureau (PPP) and placement centre (PML-N). The PML-N wants to expand the Punjab Youth Internship Programme while the PPP wants to start an internship guarantee programme. But none of the parties refer to reforming the apprenticeship system provided under the Appren­ticeship Ordinance 1962 and expanding its coverage to the growing services sector, instead of burdening the public exchequer by providing state-sponsored internships.

You would expect legislative reforms to bring agriculture workers under the purview of labour and social protection laws. For that purpose, the tenancy acts must be updated. Only Sindh and Balochistan allow agriculture workers to form and join unions, though the implementing rules have not been formulated. There is nothing in the PTI and PML-N manifestos to protect the rights of agriculture workers, though the PML-N refers to the creation of low- and medium-skilled jobs in the value-added agriculture sector.

The PPP plans to issue ‘Benazir Kissan Cards’ and a ‘Benazir Women’s Agricultural Workers’ Programme’, affording these workers all the rights of formal-sector workers. It also stands out on labour-related issues including minimum wage/living wage, workplace discri­mination, freedom of association, persons with disabilities, child labour, bon­­ded labour, and occupational safety/health. The PML-N manifesto only refers to the “strengthening of labour and occupational safety laws”. The PTI has also focused on enacting further legislation on labour rights, harassment and protection of the rights of the disabled.

The PTI and PPP refer to expanding coverage of the EOBI and Workers’ Welfare Fund. On the other hand, the PML-N talks of the issuance of ‘Khidmat Cards’ through the newly established Punjab Social Protection Authority. None of the parties refer to promulgating standalone legislation on discrimination and occupational safety and health (Sindh has promulgated the law). Similarly, the manifestos don’t refer to reforming and improving the labour-inspection machinery. Currently, there is one labour inspector for every 18,000 formal-sector workers.

There are many similarities in the manifestos of the major political parties; but the implementation of the promises will distinguish one from the other. The 69m-strong labour force has the right to ask political parties to implement such policies and plans.

The writer is the founder of the Institute for Labour Rights — The Whistlers.

ia72@cornell.edu

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2018