Speakers highlight women workers' woes

The government must bound employers to ensure health care and safety protection to women workers, especially who are doing hazardous work; adopt code of conduct for gender justice to safeguard the interests of women workers, and create safe working environment free of harassment, abuse and intimidation, where they could feel secure and work with dignity contributing to higher productivity and a better quality of life.
This was demanded by speakers of the women workers' convention entitled "Legal Protection for Women Workers" to mark the National Women's Day, which was arranged by the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), implementing project of "Enhancing Women Workers' Awareness on their Rights & Labour Laws" under its Gender Equity Program (GEP) of the Aurat Foundation (AF).
They demanded that the government should be ensured the maternity benefits for women workers, and protect rights of home-based and domestic workers through ratification and implementation of ILO Conventions C-177, C-189 & C-183, respectively, and bring them under regulation by recognising them as part of labour force in labour codes and extending social and legal protection coverage to women workers engaged in informal sector.
Speaking on the occasion, a women rights activist, Zarfishan Nasir, said: "The national women's day is marked to pay homage to the struggle initiated by a group of women rights activists who raised their voices against anti-women policies and legislation imposed by military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, and they were stopped from proceeding to the Lahore High Court and were baton-charged and tear-gassed during the protest demonstration despite martial law regulations that banned all political activities, processions and public protests. The demonstration became the symbol of women's resistance to all forms of oppression, and commitment to continue their struggle for protection of their rights, equality and empowerment despite unfavourable environment."
The director of the AWAM, Nazia Sardar, said: "The women workers are paid less as compared to fellow men workers despite the existence of labour laws in Pakistan, and it is the duty of the labour department to ensure equal wages for men and women workers at workplaces, and influence employers to bring about change in their attitude towards married women workers, because they avoid hiring and retaining married women employers and deny giving them right to maternity benefits and child care centers at workplaces."
The project manager of the AWAM, Shazia George, said: "Women workers experience poor working conditions such as long working hours, high level of health hazards or lack of social security usually accompanied with poor earnings, low productivity and lack of legal protection. There is a need to undertake advocacy actions for realisation of their rights, and enhance responsiveness of duty-bearers for the adoption and implementation of domestic and international instruments safeguarding rights of women workers."
A women's rights activist, Nazli Javed, said: "The leaders of religio-political parties have promoted ideas against women's empowerment, but women are making achievements and proving their competence in diverse despite policy and practice hindrances." "The women workers must discourage charity and encourage employment by improving their literacy and technical skills to earn decent wages, attain better working conditions, enjoy employment benefits and attain a better status in community," she added.
A trade unionist, Arif Ayaz, said: "The women workers will get empowered only when they have firm belief that they are the real creators of products being sold out in the market yielding money for owners, and they are making enormous contribution in the national economy. Therefore, they must be consulted by the government for determining minimum wage necessary to lead a dignified life ensuring decent standard of living." "The privileged class has cleverly shifted factories to homes giving birth to home-based workers, where they do not have to pay utility cost and proper wages to workers. This strategy is a tactic to prevent women workers from establishing trade unions and enjoying employment benefits and labour rights," he added.
A representative of the HomeNet Pakistan, Babar Raza, said: "The plight of women workers will neither change, nor their issues will get resolved, unless they unite them under a platform to act in an organized manner for initiating collective struggle to claim their legal and due economic rights."
Akhuwat Chairman Pervaiz Khalid Sheikh said: "The Akhuwat is making efforts to alleviate poverty by empowering socially and economically marginalized families through interest free microfinance services, entrepreneurial training and social guidance. Therefore, the women workers must get interest free loan from Akhuwat to initiate small scale businesses by utilising their skills for becoming self-reliant and leading their lives with self-esteem and dignity, and contribute to transform their families from poverty into prosperity."