A large number of Bhatta (brick kiln) workers, civil society activists and NGOs protested against the peshgi (advance), a system of bonded labour usually followed by the owners. The demonstration was organised by Pakistan Bhatta Workers Union and Labour Party of Pakistan jointly.
The demonstration led by Mian Muhammad Aslam, former MNA and MMA leader and Nisar Shah of LPP, started from Aabpara and culminated outside Press Club, where it turned into a public rally. Demonstrators carried placards reading "No to bonded labour", "No to peshgi system", "Register the Bhatta" and "fix Rs 500 as labour for 100 bricks".
Addressing the demonstrators, Mian Aslam asked the government to take serious note of exploitation of labourers working on brick kilns and give them their due rights. "Kiln owners are keeping families of labourers hostage from many generations and are not ready to give these poor labourers their due rights", he said, adding that government should take stock of this exploitation and make sure that these bonded labourers should be released from the clutches of the kiln owners.
He said that government has fixed minimum wages Rs 6,000 and it should be implemented in the kilns as well. The kiln owners have deprived the poor labourers from kidneys and have sold these kidneys to earn money, Mian Aslam said, adding that the fact these labourers are revealing are horrible and it depicts that there is no labour law existing in Pakistan.
He said that these kilns are main source of child labour, as the children of the labourers are being forced to bonded labour. If government wants to eradicate the child labour, then it should take action against the kiln owners, he demanded.
It is pertinent to note that under the peshgi system, employers give money in advance to workers, who cannot leave until they repay the whole amount. Most of the workers are illiterate and they do not know how much money is being repaid. The owners take advantage of this and impose many "fines" on the workers.
The peshgi system was formally abolished 12 years ago by the Supreme Court, but the employers are trying to make it legal again. There are 1.8 million workers in brick-kiln factories in Pakistan. Most of them work in inhuman conditions and under the peshgi system.
The workers are paid according to piece of bricks they produce. The minimum wage fixed by the federal government in 1998 was that the workers will receive at least Rs 184 per 1000 bricks. Previously there had been no legal protection for brick kiln workers.
However, most bhatta workers are currently being paid Rs 100-130 per 1000 bricks. This amount is only paid to the male head of the family, but the whole family - men, women and children - has to work in the factory without any remuneration. By working from 6 am to 7 pm, a family can produce only 1000-1500 bricks in one day. When sold in the open market, the factory owner receive around Rs 3000 per 1000 bricks.