Government urged to implement SIRA, 2013 to protect agriculture workers' rights

After four years, the Sindh Industrial Relations Act (SIRA) still confined to papers only as the provincial government and its institutions have done almost nothing to implement it, the leaders of National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) and Sindh Agriculture General Workers Union (SAGWU) said while protesting outside Hyderabad Press Club on Tuesday. The demonstration was led by SAGWU General Secretary Lal Bux Lalan.
They said that after 18th amendment in the Constitution the long-standing demand of trade unionists to recognize peasants and fishermen as workers was accepted in SIRA from the Sindh Assembly in year 2013. It was a historical development that the peasants and fishermen's rights to unionize, collective bargaining, registration with social security, pension, grants and welfare schemes were accepted. They, however, criticized that the workers were yet unable to benefit from it because the government and the labour department didn't make its rules.
The government and authorities have turned deaf ears to the peasants' voice despite their repeated attempts to be heard. They are still suffering through the dark practices of medieval ages. They are being subjected to injustice, torture and humiliation in private jails of the feudal, their girls are kidnapped, forcibly converted to the religion of influential and married out of their will.
They further said that these workers were still working in dangerously inadequate and inhumane conditions for deteriorating health and safety facilities. Due to poisonous sprays, fertilizers, and pesticides and without any proper training, their health and lives were at risk. They couldn't even claim compensation in case of illness and death.
They demanded that the representatives of workers should be taken on board in the tripartite committee to make rules of SIRA to make it effective and so that they could benefit from social security and others, labor courts should be established across the province, strong prosecution should be done against those who subject peasants to torture and humiliation by imprisoning them and forcibly marrying their girls off, a proper tripartite mechanism should be employed to fix the crop prices and the practice of forcing a price must end, immediately, the health and safety of workers should be ensured at their workplaces and the peasants and workers be brought into the legal protection net through legislation, the authorities should take notice of the sub-standard seeds, fake medicine and urea available in the market, the artificial water crisis must end and it should equitably be distributed among peasants.