Pakistan is a challenging location for workers who are the backbone of the economy. Despite the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimating a living wage of Rs60,000 to 65,000, they typically earn only a fraction of this amount.

Workers face life-threatening risks in factories, agriculture fields, construction sites and mines, and if they are fortunate enough to secure employment in an office, they must often endure humiliation.

Beyond the assertions of workers and their leaders, even employers acknowledge the stark reality that the minimum wage — Rs30,000 to Rs35,000 in different provinces — which stands at half the amount required for a decent living, is far from universally held. Shockingly, only around 50 per cent of formal sector employers bother to adhere to these regulations.

The situation in the informal sector, which encompasses a staggering 90pc of the workforce, is projected to be even bleaker. Given its heavy reliance on cash transactions, the informal sector poses significant challenges for monitoring, even for those inclined to do so. In the absence of systematic data, the analysis must rely on unreliable anecdotal evidence, further complicating efforts addressing this issue.

Political parties and the government, favouring employers, blatantly ignore the plight of labourers, leaving them exposed to dangerous environments while unprotected and under-paid

The media focus on labour affairs predominantly revolves around avoidable catastrophic events such as factory fires, chemical leaks, mine cavings, and tragic falls of unprotected workers at job sites. The occupational health hazards faced by workers are often overlooked.

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The limited coverage not only underscores governmental apathy but also reflects a societal indifference towards those toiling in these dangerous conditions.

The trade union movement experienced a decline post-1970s as successive governments, shaken by the nationalisation policies of the former president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto era, aimed to restore private sector trust by implementing corrective policies.

In addition to various other initiatives such as deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation, the state and its institutions — relevant ministries, departments and even courts — tended to favour employers over employees.

Rather than empowering workers with skills to boost productivity, ‘carrot and stick’ policies have been employed to corrupt or intimidate labour activists in an attempt to disorient workers and vilify unions. The disarray among ideological labour movement activists and leaders in Pakistan has further eroded the trade union base.

The defensive stance of contemporary labour leaders, confronted by a barrage of neo-liberal policies advocating for unfettered market forces such as privatisation, unrestricted hiring or firing rights for employers, calling for a lean government citing supervision of labour affairs in companies as undue meddling has left workers vulnerable. High unemployment has already comprised their bargaining power.

In such a climate, employers grappling with escalating business expenses began viewing the wage bill as a convenient variable to manipulate. They resorted to slashing wages as a means to contain costs and remain competitive in the market.

According to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, the labour force in Pakistan surged from 65.5 million in 2017-18 to 71.5m in 2020-21, with the number of employed people increasing from 61.7m to 67.2m over the same period. The World Bank projects the total labour force to reach 82.6m in 2024. Despite these substantial numbers, media reports suggest that barely 2pc of workers are unionised.

Iftikhar Ahmed, a comparative labour law expert and founder of Centre for Labour Research, squarely blames political parties and both tiers of the government for the dire state of the working masses. He stresses that the key to improving conditions lies in enacting clear, loophole-free legislation aligned with international labour standards. The current outdated and inconsistent laws hinder creation of a fair playing field.

Pleading, he noted that the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh are currently consolidating over two dozen labour laws into a single labour code, a move expected to enhance workers’ rights nationwide.

“For wages, collaboration between the government and employers is crucial to raise the minimum wage to a livable standard. Currently, there exists a significant gap of around Rs30,000 per month.”

Mr Ahmed credited global development and trading partners for the pressure to enhance the working conditions for the labour class. He highlighted the positive impact of trade schemes, like GSP+, which have steadily improved labour conditions over the past decade. Through this scheme, Pakistani exports to the European Union are contingent upon local legislation compliance with international labour standards, prompting laws to be enacted for domestic, home-based and agricultural workers.

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Majyd Aziz, former president of the Employers Federation of Pakistan, who collaborates closely with the ILO, asserts that businesses, both tiers of the government, political parties and trade unions collectively bear the responsibility for the deplorable conditions in which workers are forced to live.

Mr Aziz criticises unions for losing workers’ trust due to their ineffectiveness. Attributing the roots of the business class’s resentment of workers to the 1972-77 policies, he notes that Bhutto’s liberal approach empowered workers excessively, leading to the proliferation of unions and leaders, some of whom resorted to disruptive and illegal practices.

This era saw strikes becoming commonplace, resulting in the closure of many industries, exacerbated by a biased judiciary heavily favouring workers during the 1970s. He further attributed low productivity to workers’ casual attitude and claimed that 40pc of formal sector businesses and 90pc of informal ones don’t comply with the minimum wage laws.

Lamenting the absence of visionary leadership in the labour class, Mr Aziz noted a failure of unions to ensure job security and financial improvement. He doubted the capacity of small and medium enterprises to provide living wages and emphasised the dire situation of agricultural workers, placing them at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 6th, 2024