Labor and civil society leaders have raised concern over poor working condition of women cotton pickers. This discussion was organized by Sindh Community Foundation and led by the Javed Hussain, Executive Director of Sindh Community Foundation (SCF), Mahnaz Rahman of Aurat Foundation Karachi, Badar Soomro of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Javed Hussain said on the occasion that Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world where approximately 1.5 million smallholder farmers rely on cotton for a living. Cotton is the country's most widely cultivated crop (grown on 15% of land) and an important raw material for its growing textiles industry, representing 8.5% of GDP (All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, 2018).
He further added that cotton is grown mostly in two provinces that account for 99% of production -Punjab and Sindh. Cotton picking is primarily carried out by women, which is considered a cash job. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data for 2010, there are 4.9 million casual and hired farm workers in Sindh of which approximately 1.7 million are women.
Javed further shared that in Sindh more than 10 districts are cultivating cotton including Sanghar, Matairi, Ghokti, Hyderabad rural, Tando Allayhar Mirpurkhas, Kahaurpur, Banazirabad. Although they contribute to the growth of textile industry, they remain poor and are exploited as their wages are extremely low. They are not given health insurance or medical compensation.
Aisha Agha, Programme Officer SCF said that the women cotton pickers are unaware about labour rights and are not united for collective bargaining and negotiation for wage fixation. She further shared that SCF worked with 3,000 cotton pickers in 30 villages in Matiari District. The project trained 30 village groups on labour rights, socio-economic rights, and rights to association and collective bargaining skills.
As a result, through increased rights awareness and collective bargaining, the groups secured a 50% increase in their wages - from 200 rupees per 40kg of cotton picked (average amount picked in a day), to 300 rupees - which is still lower than the current market wages.