KARACHI:
The National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) on Wednesday demanded the government
to take notice of the plight of workers at the Gadani shipbreaking industry,
who are being forced to work in highly dangerous and deplorable conditions.
“Gadani
shipbreaking yard has become a graveyard of old ships as well as workers who
regularly die due to lack of health and safety facilities,” Nasir Mansoor,
Deputy General Secretary NTUF, said in a press conference organised at the
Karachi Press Club.
He
regretted that due to lack of precautionary measures, accidents are being
reported regularly at Gadani and in the last two months two workers have died
and more than one dozen injured.
“Despite
demands, labour laws are not being implemented in this industry and workers are
not getting any incentives from the related government departments.
“The
workers at Gadani have been playing their due role in catering the needs of the
iron and steel industry for the last 50 years, however, the government is not
paying any attention to their problems. These workers are getting meager wages
and they are forced to do overtime.
They
are deprived of making unions including appointment letters and registration
with the social security organization or Employees Old Age Benefit Institution
(EOBI).”
The
union said the main issue of Gadani shipbreaking is lack of health and safety
measures and due to this workers face accidents almost on a daily basis. The
workers are deprived of safety shoes, leather gloves, protective helmets, overalls
and fire extinguishing equipment.
Recently,
a worker, Muhammad Asif, died on plot number 45 when a ship caught fire.
Another worker, Muhammad Azeem, died on plot 88 when a heavy iron plate fell
over him. Several other workers have been injured seriously in a blast at plot
number seven and eight. The police have been avoiding registering first
information reports (FIR) in these cases and trying to close the cases by
concluding that the workers died due to their own fault.
Gadani
is the second largest shipbreaking center of the world after Alang, Mumbai
where more than 15,000 workers are directly employed while another two million
are earning livelihood indirectly from it. At present, there is a boom in the
shipbreaking sector and more than 45 ships are being broken at Gadani.
However,
working conditions for workers are still the same.
Mansoor
demanded the government to announce a shipbreaking industry policy immediately
in consultation with the representatives of labour unions.
“All
workers should be registered with EOBI, safety during work should be ensured,
right to make labour unions, and should be allowed to take part in a referendum
under the labour department.
“In
every shipbreaking plot, the service of a dispensary and ambulance should be
provided and canteen and arrangement of clean drinking water should be ensured.
The government should ensure payment of death grant to heirs of all workers who
die during work, while compensation should be paid to the injured.
He
said that an illegal contract system is at its peak in the industry and the
contractors have got a free hand to exploit the workers. “These contractors
have virtually made the workers their slaves.”
Source: The Express Tribune. 19 May 2016
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