Home-based women workers and activists get together to stress forming unions for fair wages
International Women's Day was certainly colorful in the city. Many women organizations met to commemorate this day in different ways. The biggest congregation was of working women who operate from home - that is, they get work from market and industries and are paid per piece.

Women Workers Helpline invited all these women and activists to think what should be done so that the workers get just payment. These women who do many different odd jobs are paid most unfairly. The whole family most of the time is engaged in the work they do but do not get more than fifty rupees at the end of the day. One can have an idea from the fact that a woman, who stitches 100 mobile covers, gets 28 rupees at the end of the day. The woman who sheds chilghoza shells gets 15 rupees per kilo and the same chilghoza sells for Rs 1500 per kilo. Women do a thousand such things like fix beads (nugs) on chaadars and saaris, peel garlic, make badges, make flowers with paper for decoration, do embroidery, cut jeans, make joggers, motorcycle paddles etc.

When the workers are not getting the right wages how do they get food twice a day, one may ask. A woman who makes a living from such odd jobs and is a mother of four children, stood up in the hall and said, "The rich cook two kilogram meat for a meal and we poor are not getting even vegetables. What kind of a country do we live in?"

A band of folk singers sang a song that was picked up by some of the speakers because it touched everyone's heart. It said: "Ganday naal we roti khani okhi ay" which means 'it has become difficult to have roti even with onion.' And "khoosh howan tay taarri laani okhi ay", meaning 'when I am happy it is difficult to even have a drink' but the verse that brought tears to many eyes was:

"Rabba kah day saaray saal day rozay nay
Mazdooran noo tay eid manani okhi ay"
(God, say fasting is for the whole year
Its difficult for workers to even celebrate eid).

Justice (retd) Nasira Javed Iqbal suggested women should take their product to market themselves, to raise their voice for their rights because until then no one will hear them. "Even a mother doesn't give milk to her child until he cries." She stressed upon the role of union councils and women councilors. "Bear no injustice, do not accept less money, do not work for more than eight hours -- even those working at home on pieces, do not take beatings, go to your women councillors, there is always a way out." In short she said where people make an effort; they find a solution to the problems. So we have not failed so long as we are making an effort.

Tahira Mazhar Ali of National Workers Party and Democratic Women Association said ideas should come on how to counter the problems. Stating the problems is not enough. She called upon the women home-based workers to make a union and then demand fair wages from that platform. She said, "This day is to voice our concerns and demands and see that others agree with it." She demanded free education till class 10 and called upon the government to take responsibility of providing good education. She gave an idea: "Those who make big plazas can be asked to make low cost small houses for the poor, like for one who is building a 12-storey plaza the government can make it mandatory for him to construct 100 houses for the poor who can in turn pay him back in installments."

Farooq Tariq from Labour Party shed light on how this day came to be observed. "It dates back to 1820. On March 8 that year women in tailoring sector in Britain first went on strike for better working hours. And they got it. Here there are women who are working for as long as 18 hours a day. They suffer from numerous health problems like back ache, muscular pain, burning in the fingertips etc. but nothing is being done to alleviate their sufferings."

The question is how to ensure that the home-based women workers get right wages, social security, six month maternity leave and that the Government of Pakistan ratifies ILO C-177. For this the home-based workers need to make a union and we hope to hear about a step forward in this direction soon.