The rescue of 20 bonded labourers including women and children from a brick kiln near Khadar recently shows that the lives of vulnerable workers in the free state of Pakistan are not easy.
Although state legislation and global treaties to abolish bonded labour continue to be put in place, a bonded form of labour still prevails in kilns, agriculture, domestic workers and workshops. Despite the introduction and enforcement of labour laws, bonded labour or what may be referred to as ‘‘slavery’’ is still found in Pakistan. Mostly, people are poor, illiterate and unaware of their rights or insufficient laws being implemented.
Workers suffer from the bonds of debt mainly because employers and sometimes middlemen supply them with high-interest loans which the workers are forced to work to repay. Such loans taken in the name of advances form a perpetual cycle of bondage which is inherited to the next generation.
ILO Conventions and the Law of the Land:
ILO Convention No. 29 (Forced Labour Convention, 1930): Requiring eradicating forced labour in any of its forms.
ILO Convention No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957): Banned forced labour as a tool of profit-making.
In Pakistan the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, of 1992 makes bonded labour unlawful and any contractual bond got into due to the bondage system is legally ineffective. However, as much as there are legal provisions for implementation of the principles are weak and due to weak monitoring mechanisms the practice is uncontrolled.
Bonded Labour: A Symptom of Systemic Inequality
Bonded labour is not an employment issue; it is a noticeable picture of socio-economic disparities. It thrives in an environment of poverty, illiteracy, and marginalization, where vulnerable communities are pushed into the circle of society. Bonded labour is a world where workers’ wages, conditions, and respect can be forced without any compromise. This crisis is not one of exploitation alone but of structural relations that reproduce dominance and that innocent person could easily become a prisoner of such structures.
Bonded labour means maximum subordination and at the same time social, economic, physical and political vulnerability of employees or workers. In brick kilns, agriculture and other sectors of employment, human beings are not respected rather they are dealt with more like commodities. A lot of employers are wealthy and most of them have political might, and therefore exploit legal technicalities and the desperation of the poor to enslave them. Trade unions have for many years been protesting this injustice, for example through demands for bargaining power, fair wages and decent working conditions.
A Society Complicit in Silence
There is no doubt that the continuity of bonded labour is not only a problem of government and political failure but also social. It continues because society has now gotten used to using those in vulnerable situations. This means most families in bonded labor come from ignorant societies hence making society give minimal consideration to their suffering.
Employer organisations understand that bonded labour is not just about the enforcement of laws but is part and parcel of discrimination against workers, minorities and the poor. For instance, women and children in bonded labour face additional layers of exploitation, including harassment and denial of basic human rights like education and healthcare.
A Call to Action: Society Must Stand United
While political and industrial relations are normally taken up by organized labour forces through trade unions, this issue calls for participation from all society stakeholders. The governments need to reinforce these eradication measures against bonded labour Through more enforcement mechanisms and the private sector needs to be held responsible for exploitative practices. Religious people, the educational system, and the media have the largest burden placed upon them to change the perception of society towards labour exploitation.
Trade unions will still remain the leading force in this fight, fighting for and providing a voice for the victims of the system. Combined, it can be possible to overcome all the barriers that are prevalent in bonded labour and develop a society in which workers have control to influence their own destinies.
