KARACHI: The Ship-breaking Workers Union Gadani (SWUG) on Thursday asked the authorities and ship-owners to implement labour laws and ensure occupational safety and health of its workers.
Addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club, union president Bashir Mehmoodani said that the promises to ensure labor rights and safety at yards were yet to materialize. “Authorities announced these measures in the aftermath of the November 1 incident last year in which a decommissioned oil tanker caught fire during dismantling, killing 26 workers and injuring dozens in the process”, he said.
According to the agreement, ship-owners were to increase the wages of workers on July 1, the start of the fiscal year. Mehmoodani alleged that the owners avoided negotiation with the true representatives of workers, opting instead to deal with promoted contractors acting as union leaders. “The ship-owners have been approached thrice on the matter but they haven’t started the talks yet, nor given any satisfactory response so far”, he lamented.
He was accompanied by National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) president Rafiq Baloch and deputy general secretary Nasir Mansoor, along with other officials of SWUG.
The union leader told media that, since the oil tanker incident last year, six more workers had lost their lives in different incidents. “The ship-owners and concerned government departments seem little bothered about the lives of workers”, he said.
“Gadani still awaits the hospital, ambulances and fire fighting machinery that it was promised. Workers still remain unregistered with the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and legislation around worker safety is still non-existent”, he said.
According to reports, NTUF had earlier finalized a draft of the “Ship breaking Bill” and shared it with stakeholders for more consultation.
SWUG and NTUF leaders demanded that workers be given their due rights including increase in wages and health, safety measures, announcing that they will start a movement from next month, and use the option of going on strike, if their demands are not accepted.
Published in Daily Times, July 28th , 2017.
