KARACHI, Sept 10:
The 18th Amendment strengthened labour laws in Sindh and provided greater constitutional protection to workers and trade unions, senior trade unionist and People’s Labour Bureau Chairman Habibuddin Junaidi said on Thursday.
He was speaking at a seminar on occupational safety and health (OSH), organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) at the Karachi Press Club ahead of the 14th anniversary of the Baldia factory fire.
Mr Junaidi said the country had failed to learn lessons from repeated industrial tragedies, but workers and society must continue to remember them and demand safer workplaces.
Paying tribute to PILER founder Karamat Ali for his role in securing compensation for victims of the Baldia factory fire, he described trade unions as the “nursery of democracy” and regretted that they had been weakened to the point of near extinction. He also called for the revival of student unions.
The seminar demanded mandatory inspection of all industrial units to ensure adequate safety measures, emergency exits and fire-extinguishing systems. It urged factory owners and government authorities to implement OSH laws effectively.
Participants said the absence of reliable data on workplace fire incidents was a serious concern and called for the establishment of a national database. They also demanded workers’ training, the formation of OSH councils and the observance of Sept 11 as OSH Day in Pakistan.
Around 260 workers were killed when a fire engulfed the Ali Enterprises garments factory in Baldia Town on Sept 11, 2012.
PILER Executive Director Abbas Haider said the Baldia tragedy was rooted in the absence of adequate occupational safety and health measures. He said the case passed through several stages, including political developments, while the eventual acquittal of the main accused had denied justice to the victims.
Karachi Union of Journalists President Tahir Hasan Khan said no meaningful lessons had been learnt from the Baldia tragedy, as Karachi continued to witness major disasters, including the Gul Plaza and PIMS fires.
He said the movement following the Baldia tragedy had contributed to the development of a law in the European Union. He urged PILER, trade unions and civil society organisations to join hands and lobby for a comprehensive legal framework for workplace safety, warning that without sustained efforts.
