Speakers in a dialogue on issues of women cotton pickers organized by Sindh Community Foundation at its office here in connection with International Labour Day, urged fair wages for women cotton pickers. Women cotton pickers from different areas of Hyderabad, Matiari, Saeedabad and Hala attended the dialogue.
Speakers were included Javed Hussain, Head of Sindh Community Foundation, Professor Ismail Kumbahr, Sindh Agriculture University of Tando Jam, Shahzanaz Sheedi of South Asia Partnership Pakistan, Labour rights activist Taj Maree. Participants were included Maee Chutti of representative of the Cotton piker union from Sukhip Meerjat of remote rural areas of Hala takuka said, "We worked hard but most of the time received low wages."
She further said that they experience health hazard during picking process but there is no compensation from landlords. Javed Hussain, head of Sindh Community Foundation, said that women cotton pickers are informal labourers.
They are not organised as no law covers them, especially the law on the fixing of wages when it comes to the application of the law. Women cotton pickers are working in 9 cotton producing districts in Sindh. There is a dire need of institutional assessment. Regarding the formation of unions by the peasantry even laws like SIRA 2013 becomes irrelevant in the absence of the explicit definition of rules. The SIRA otherwise says it defines the agriculture and fisheries sectors to ensure the right of association. He said that ambiguities must be removed from the SIRA and amended article should be included with clear business rules in favour of agriculture workers.
He said that SCF has registered 7 cotton-pickers' unions with the labour department while invoking provisions of the Sindh Industrial Relations Act (SIRA), 2013. Dr Ismaeel Kumbahr said that the recently launched labour policy should be come up with comprehensive protection programme for agriculture and wages rural workers.