Home-Based Women Workers Working in Informal Sector
According to a study Women’s Work and Empowerment Issues in an Era of Economic Liberalization in Pakistan’s Urban Manufacturing Sector done by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Economic growth and development are expected to alter women’s role in society. It correlates with educated, trained women entering the workforce and commanding a premium for their work. This in turn is expected to decrease their burden of reproductive responsibilities as well as bring about overall economic and gender empowerment. However on the economic front according to a survey this does not appear to confirm with Pakistan’s experience.

Women’s rights especially as workers have undergone significant transformation spurred by the onset of Neo-liberal economic policies of Pakistan’s Macro Economic environment in 1991.  The macro-environment is an important determinant of choices that women and their households make with regard to their productive and reproductive labor. The relative skill levels of men and women, the conditions of work, employment levels and the pattern of real wages are all deeply conditioned by the macro environment prevailing in the economy. 

The process of liberalization has resulted in increasing informalisation and casualisation in the labor market and spawned a huge growth in the informal sector and home-based work with increased female participation therein. Almost 80% of the work force in manufacturing sector, entire road transport and trade, and most of the services sector are the informal economy.

Much of the shift in the economic policy paradigm has come in the wake of successive stabilization and structural adjustment agreements (SAPs) that the country has signed with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.  On the re-distributive front subsidies on key domestic prices and the state provision of both physical and social infrastructure are being increasingly taken out of the public sphere to be provided by the market. The privatization, deindustrialization/colonization of the industry, and downsizing of Government and semi-government corporations are key components of WTO and SAPs introduced by multilateral conditionalities attached to aid packages has been undertaken.

Even before the entry of  WTO in Pakistan’s economy Globalization had taken place but most of it took place through the WTO institution which has evolved into an all-powerful supra-national government with more autonomy and powers than the UN. No balance is struck between providing for basic domestic needs and boosting exports. Far from making the world a free and fair market WTO has made it free for all MNCs. The South is reduced to being a source of cheap labour, commodities and sub-contractors and a captive market for the North.

Furthermore the introduction of the Industrial Relations Ordinance has weakened the role of workers and trade unions: the right to collective bargaining is not available, denial of union membership/Freedom of Association, restrictions on the right to strike and exempting export processing zones from all labour legislation, and the right to form and join a trade union.

The loss of jobs held by men and the reduction in family income has also contributed to the large influx of women into labour market. The percentage living below the poverty line has doubled, a reflection of the slowdown in economic growth and the decline in public investment which have been a consequence of the liberalization policies instituted.

These developments have critically impinged on the manner in which women enter the labour force and the returns they receive from their remunerative labour. On the production side liberalization has impacted negatively on women’s prospects in the labour market from both the demand and supply side. More than three fourths of urban employment for women takes place in the informal sector coupled with increasing work being pushed out from large scale units through sub-contracting not only wages are low but employment of women in urban areas is mainly in low productivity and low returns sector where working conditions are harsh, no employment benefits exist and mechanisms of protection are not available.

The impact of macro economic environment on women as home managers is primarily affected by the rate of inflation-especially in commodities consumed by low income groups and by the level of provision of social sector services provided by the state.  The State has backed off from its responsibilities in providing social services- a notable decline in public expenditure on education, health, housing, physical infrastructure, the provision of potable water and sanitation is a direct consequence of the IMF imperative to reduce the budget deficit.  With the decline in wages and social services has put extra pressure on women, setting up distress coping mechanisms on their part, with implications on their economic well-being (some are reduced to indebtedness) as well as on their prospects of empowerment and gender relations.

Objectives:
Awareness raising on the issue
Mobilizing women in the informal sector for collective bargaining
Mainstreaming home based work as contribution to the economy
Building linkages with committed hardworking partners
Lobbying with stakeholders to end unfair labor practices

Establishment of Cooperatives
At the community level four (4) cooperatives have been established two (2) in Shahdara and two (2) in Kot Lakhpat. These cooperatives are working to organize home based workers for collective bargaining. Leadership and skill development trainings are being conducted to improve the quality of their products and building capacity of home based workers. Study circles are also organized for sharing information and building confidence on the political, social and economic situation in the country. Community kitchen and day care facilities are also available to give relief to women workers. These cooperatives are providing subsidized food items to member home based workers. Cooperatives ensure democratic membership, irrespective of race, color, cast, creed, sex ethnic background.  Cooperatives are promoting independence, social change, education, training, information and concerns for the community. At provincial and national level, Actionaid and its partners established provincial core groups of like-minded organizations. These groups are providing their technical support and helping to build strong contacts with the concerned department/institutes, government representatives and international agencies. A number of meetings have been conducted with private investors and contractors to improve the wages and working conditions.  Sound results are being seen as the result of above mentioned effort.

Formation of a core group
A ten member core group has been formed to provide technical support and input to the project. This group includes representatives from: women’s rights organization, labor committees, home-based workers, labor organizations, trade unions, representatives from labor movements.

Socially Empowering Activities
Socially empowering activities with new directions has been designed and facilitated for household workers with the aim of bringing the communities together. These include theatre, trainings, capacity building programs, labor festivals (melas), cultural evenings, resource centers, reading time, debates, and children’s art workshops.

Involving Private Investors
Meetings with private sector employers/investors to incorporate fair labor policies such as regulate contract work, proper wages and good working conditions and provide social protection benefits/schemes in terms of health, education and employees provident or retirement fund.

Public Sector Initiative
Lobbying with local government to realize women’s economic contribution in the informal sector and to recognize them as workers and to force them that measures should be taken to make sure they have healthy and safe working conditions.

Provincial Consultations
Provincial consultation has been organized for awareness raising and sensitization. Participants included Government representatives, NGOs, trade unions, labor organizations and human rights activists.

Technical capacity building
Trainings have been organized with the following objectives:

Capacity building of organizations working on labor issues, employers/investors in the private sector, public sector and trade unions. A resource pool can be build to conduct trainings both at national and provincial level
Capacity building and exposure visits of coordinators
Leadership & skill trainings for home-based workers to build their confidence and skills for interacting and lobbying for their workplace rights

Linkages with Labor Movement
Workers and their families in the informal and home-based work are generally not involved in the labor movement, although they are invariably the major victims of non-implementation of core labor rights, exploitation and anti-labor practices. It has curtailed not only their economic but also their social rights. Labor activists and trade unions do not recognize or consider the importance of their labor. This continued exclusion has not only contributed towards anti-labor practices both at State and employer’s level but also weakened the labor movement in Pakistan. Hence it is crucial to involve all family members of the workers especially women, youth and children in all labor activities.