Pakistan Trade Union solidarity rally against "slaughterhouses of workers."

Press Release
 
‘Stop factories from becoming slaughterhouses of workers ‘

Karachi workers stage rally to express solidarity with Baldia, Dhaka garment factories martyrs
 
Karachi, May 24: The governments and International Brands are directly responsible for the gory incidents in Ali Enterprises Baldia Karachi and garment factories of Dhaka, Bangladesh, as their criminal negligence resulted in loss of lives of thousands of innocent workers. Strict steps should be taken to ensure proper safety of workers and stop turning the factories into slaughterhouses of workers.
 
This was said by labor leaders, addressing a large rally in front of Karachi Press Club (KPC) here Friday, staged by National Trade Unions Federation Pakistan (NTUFP) to express solidarity with the martyrs of garment workers of Bangladesh.
 
They said to avoid repetition of Karachi and Dhaka tragedies it is necessary that local and international labor laws be strictly applied in all textile and garment factories. The international industrial safety standards for labor should be implemented to save the lives of workers.
 
A large number of workers, trade union activists, political leaders, representatives of human rights organizations, intellectuals and students attended the rally. Carrying banners and placards they chanted slogans demanding safety measures for the factory workers.
 
The speakers said millions of Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers are related to textile and garment industries; however, in both countries these workers are even deprived of the rights guaranteed to them under the local constitutions and labor laws. They said working conditions for these labors are very poor and they have to work 12 to 14 hours a day. They said hardly 3percent of these workers are registered with social security institutions. In their factories trade unions and collective bargaining agents are virtually non-existent. Many big factories, working for decades, have not even bothered to get themselves registered.
 
They said due to the pressure of influential industrialists, the process of labor inspection is put on the back burner. Resultantly, the number of industrial accidents has risen sharply. Three major human tragedies in such factories in short span of eight months have diverted the world attention to this sensitive issue. These incidents started with a huge fire in Ali Enterprises, Balida Karachi, burning alive more than 300 garment workers. Then in November 2012 more than 150 workers perished in fire in a Dhaka factory and recently more than 1200 workers died in collapse of a building in Dhaka, housing garments factories. All these incidents took place in the garment factories that make garments for renowned international brands. These international brands in order to maximize their profits through the use of cheap labor are violating all local and international laws.
 
They said it is a misfortune that in the 21st century after death of thousands of workers in these industrial accidents a discussion on the basic rights of workers has started. They said it is inevitable that the local and international labor laws should be implemented in consultation with the labor unions and workers’ organizations, and all international brands be made bound not to begin production till ensuring adherence to local and international labour standards and laws.
 
Paying glowing tributes to these martyrs, the speakers said their sacrifices would give a new spur to the international workers movement, and the repetition of these incidents would not be allowed. They welcomed the agreements between international brands and labor organizations especially "IndustriALL Global Union" after the Dhaka incidents and demanded that the sphere of these agreements should be extended to Pakistan and other countries. They demanded to give legal cover to these agreements and make bound the international brands to follow them. They criticized some international brands like Wal-Mart and GAP who have opposed these pacts and termed it anti-labor attitude.
 
The rally demanded adequate safety measures in all industries and factories. The use of social audit institute certification and code of conduct as substitute to labor laws should be declared illegal. The bereaved families of victims of Ali Enterprises Karachi and Rana Plaza Dhaka should be given compensation as per demands of the labor unions. The process of labor inspection should be revived and made further effective. All factories should be registered as per laws. All workers should be given appointment letters and social security cards. Labors should be given their rights of trade union and collective bargaining agent. The minimum wages should be fixed at Rs20000 per month. All international brands should be made bound to follow international labor standard.
 
Those spoke the rally include NTUF president Muhammad Rafiq Baloch, general secretary Ghani Zaman Awan, deputy general secretary Nasir Mansoor, labor leader Usman Baloch, Gul Rehman of Workers Rights Movement, Riaz Abbasi of Atlas Battery, NTUF Balochistan president Allah Warraya Lassi, president of Gadani Ship Breaking Labor Union Bashir Ahmed Mahmoodani, Ghulam Muhammad of Landhi Action Committee, Muhammad Aslam of Kohinoor Employees Union, president Al-Ettehad Power Looms Workers Union Abdul Muhammad, Shaikh Majeed of PIA, Muhammad Mubeen of Mactor Pharma, Razaq Kachelo, Rashid Abbasi and others
 
Issued by: 
Nasir Mansoor
National Trade Unions Federation Pakistan
+92300 3587211

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Pakistan Garment Factory Lays off 1000

Garment Workers protest in Pakistan

Press Statement by National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF)

From Nasir Mansoor Deputy general secretary National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF

International exporter renders 1,000 workers jobless

‘Joe’s Fashion’ likely to render 4,000 more workers jobless by closing anther factory 

A garment factory, Joe’s Fashion Export situated in Korangi Industrial Area (KIA) has shut down business and rendered around 1,000 employees jobless without taking labour department functionaries on board which was mandatory formality to be fulfilled.

Most of the workers had served this garment factory for more than 20 years and they are getting panicky now as to how to get their legal dues. Out of these 1,000 employees there are 650 female workers who have served this factory for so many years.

This is pertinent to mention here that all these workers were registered with Social Security Institute and Employees Old-Age Benefits Institute (EOBI). These workers have factory’s cards but their appointment letters are in possession of the factory’s management and they were never handed over these letters. However, the factory had no labour union in it which might have pleaded the workers’ case to get them justice accordingly.

The factory was closed on January 17 without fulfilling legal procedure. For closing down any factory the management is required to inform the workers besides intimating Labour Department about it letting this institute know the reasons of closure.
Afterward the owners are required to submit the details of dues in Labour Court which it owes to the workers. In the labour court final settlement is made but nothing like it was done before locking the factory.

The factory in question is one of the major exporters of garments to European Union and some known international brands like H&M, Tom Tailors, C&A, Zara, ST-Magor, Orchestra and some others had been buying finished products from this company.
This factory was also certified by ISO 9001 and Bureau Veritos had awarded it with the certificate of Quality Management. 

Generally international brands claim to buy merchandise from only those manufacturers who fulfill all standards including provision of due rights of workers at their workplaces. However, in this case they did not bother to probe whether the manufacturer, Mohsim Ayoub Mirza was fulfilling his duties or not. The factory in question is situated in the sector 27 of KIA and currently its finished products, raw material and machinery is being shifted to some other factory under the supervision of armed guards. The products and machinery is being shifted to Rija Fashion, a factory which is owned by the brother of Mirza.

Uzma is affected employee who has served Joe’s Fashion for around 31 years as helper whereas Abdul Jabbar has worked as storekeeper for nearly 25 years in this factory. Likewise, another worker Hanif has served this factory for 23 years as Fabric Incharge.
All these workers are running from post to pillar to know about their dues’ clearance and their status at the moment.

The owner of the factory has many more branches of the factory under different names in international cities like Madrid, Paris, Sharja, UAE and in Sri Lanka besides owning three subsidiaries branches in Karachi.

The same owner is also shutting another of his factory today (January 31) which is situated in Export Processing Zone (EPZ) where the livelihood of around 4,000 workers is associated.

The representative of workers, National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) has moved an application to Labour Department on Wednesday and sought justice for the affected employees. The NTUF is of the opinion generally the industrialists shut down some industry to get rid of their debts or to wave off banks’ loans. THE NTUF has demanded from the government to seal the assets of the owner of the factory due to his noncompliance of labour laws and ditching them thoroughly. The NTUF also demanded from international brands to take notice of the situation and make the owner bound to follow international labour standards.

This move of the owner has also disturbed the local suppliers and they are also wandering where to get their pending dues. A female Chinese supplier is also looking here and there to about the whereabouts of the owner to get clear her dues.       

Nasir Mansoor
Deputy General Secretary
National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan
03003587211
ntufpak@gmail.com
www.ntufpak.org       



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Pakistan: Farooq Tariq comments on the Awami Workers' Party.

We reprint below the comments of Farooq Tariq on the formation of the Awami Workers' Party in Pakistan.  The Awami Party came about through the unification of three left parties, The Awami Party, the Labour Party Pakistan, and Workers Party Pakistan. Reprinted from Viewpoint

AWP founded: Will it sustain itself?

Thursday, 29 November 2012 23:33by Farooq Tariq

The merger will survive because it has more positives and no negatives. The cementing phenomenon is the ideology of Socialism that all three parties have agreed upon

The merger of three left wing parties---Awami Party, Labour Party Pakistan, and Workers Party Pakistan---has generated a lot of discussion among the political intelligentsia and activists. While it has been hailed as a trend setting exercise by many in and outside Pakistan, there are quite a few asking the question: will it sustain itself? The merger undoubtedly has lifted many aspirations of those wanting a just and equitable society. It has been welcomed all over despite a few relating sarcastically and instinctively with some of the failed attempts of the Left to forge unity among organizations over the past 30 years.

Four articles within a week of merger were printed in the editorial pages of commercial media including Dawn, Pakistan Today and Daily Times, written by well respected writers like I. A. Rehman and Professor Aziz-ud-din Ahmad, welcoming the merger on the theme of the “Left reborn” . Several Urdu papers also followed the English papers to welcome the most intelligent move by the Left in decades to expand its social basis in a society dominated by political Islam.
The arguments put forward by some questioning the sustainability of this merger are based mainly on lack of information within the left of Pakistan and are short of understanding the objective and subjective realities under which this bold initiative was taken. Let us look some of the starting points for this merger.

The merger was simply a local act. It was not taken because someone from outside had done this. It was not a mechanical imitation but a dialectical response to some of the successful recent experiences on the Left internationally. Many on the Left in Pakistan were inspired by the success of SYRISA of Greece (The Coalition of the Radical Left –a United Social Front). It won nearly 27 percent popular votes in the general elections in Greece and became the second largest and main opposition party. It brought together several different socialist and political trends to form the party in 2004. Within 8 years, it became the talk of the whole world. However, the merger in Pakistan is not a carbon copy of SYRISA. It has its unique features.

The beginning of merger process was purely a product of the young revolutionaries within the three parties who finally decided to unite in one single platform. The desire of the young revolutionaries for a bold and creative action for the uplift of the Left forces had all the foundations of a success story. It was not a hasty impatience of some “young petty bourgeoisie youth” to build a party overnight as described by some sceptical analysts. It was a painstaking long overdue strategy put into reality.
The merger would sustain and help to develop a radical left party in a short space of time. The main reason is the ideological basis for this process. It is done at a time when the very existence of the Left was in question because of the continuous growth of religious fanaticisms in all spheres of life. The insecurity among the left activists has been halted by this merger process.

The ideological differences in the history of the Left were long overtaken by the extraordinary events of the past 25 years. The collapse of the Soviet Union and euphoria among the capitalist class led them to go for an all out war against the working class in the shape of the brutal implementation of the neoliberal agenda.  The result was, as expected, the growth of poverty at an unprecedented level and the gap among poor and rich widened to an historical high point. The international capitalist crisis worsened this situation even further.

However, Pakistan was a special case. Here, the growth of abhorrence against the “system” was not translated in the progress of progressive forces. On the contrary, the extreme right wing forces with their anti-imperialist demagogy were the main beneficiaries. They were better prepared with over 80,000 Madrassas and a whole range of social work they were involved in coloring with religious sentiments.

The Left was left out by political commentators as mere spectators from outside the mainstream political arena.  However, the slow and patient work of some Left groups and parties in building social and labour movements paved the way for the present merger. One of the main aims of this merger strategy was to strengthen the labour and peasant movement that they were able to build in parts of the country over the years. The movements were in some confusion about the three parties pursuing similar ideology and tactics with three different names. The merger has eased their lives.
One of the main beneficiaries of this merger will be the National Students Federation, a traditional left organization which saw splits among its ranks whenever the Left split for any reason. That was the main consideration among the leadership of the three parties who left their year’s long hard work building their parties to adopt a new name. It was the NSF leadership that initiated the merger process and it is the youth who are in the forefront of joining the new party.

The merger will survive because it has more positives and no negatives. The cementing phenomenon is the ideology of Socialism that all three parties have agreed upon. They agree that the commanding heights of economy be nationalized [under democratic workers’ control and management???]Nations [and national groups?] must have a right of self determination with a voluntary choice of succession. An end of debt with an audit of all the local and foreign loans is the high point agreed to tackle the worsening economic crisis. At least 10 percent of the national budget spent on education and five percent on health with drastic cuts in military spending will ease the life of millions once put in practice.

With a radical programme, committed and experienced self sacrificing leadership and whole hearted support of all the members of the three parties have put the merger formula on the road of guaranteed success.

Farooq Tariq is General Secretry of Awami Workers Party Pakistan. Email: farooqtariq@hotmail.com

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