A recent study has shown that labour rights violations are widespread in major textile factories in Karachi and Faisalabad, which produce healthcare exports for Europe, according to a report by Dawn. The 52-page report “Public money, private harm: The role of EU procurement in perpetuating labour violations: lessons from Pakistan and Sweden” was carried out in collaboration with Swedwatch and local organisations, including AwazCDS-Pakistan and NowCommunities, and is based on testimonies from textile workers in Karachi and Faisalabad.
The findings highlighted serious labour rights abuses attributed to the ineffective enforcement of EU procurement regulations and labour laws. It emphasised that relying on social audits and certifications to ensure compliance “frequently fails to identify or resolve these violations, raising significant doubts about their effectiveness”. During the report launch in Karachi, the Executive Director of NowCommunities, Farhat Parveen, described the challenges faced by workers in both the formal and informal sectors in Pakistan.
These challenges include exclusion from decision-making processes, a lack of social safety nets, insufficient maternity benefits, workplace safety issues and poor working conditions and they point out that only limited legislation exists in the nation to address these problems. Zia-ur-Rehman, the founder of AwazCDS-Pakistan, explained that the study focused on “the textile sector, particularly products exported to the EU and the condition of labour rights at the lowest level of the supply chain”. The report highlighted that European countries such as Sweden depend significantly on textile healthcare imports from Pakistan, drawing attention to problems in the supply chain.
The report highlighted that the global textile industry is “particularly susceptible to labour rights violations, characterised by low wages, unstable employment, poor working conditions and gender pay discrepancies”. It noted that this issue is especially severe in countries such as Pakistan, “where textile factories provide goods for public contracting authorities in Europe”, including Sweden. It specified that in the textile sectors of Karachi and Faisalabad, which are the country’s primary “production hubs”, workers frequently “face long hours, hazardous working environments, lack of social protections and a void of formal employment contracts”.
It conveyed that these abuses were “aggravated” by the inadequate enforcement of labour laws and the non-implementation of EU procurement regulations. The report observed that “some factories hang banners at their entrances claiming that workers receive the minimum wage by the beginning of each month. However, interviews indicated that these assertions are often misleading, with workers generally receiving much lower salaries”.
The study indicated that although women worked the same hours as their male colleagues, they sometimes earned as little as Pakistani currency (PKR) 6,000. “Men and women perform identical tasks, yet women receive lower wages than men”, said Rehman, adding that women also do not receive “sufficient training”. “Most supervisory positions are assigned to men”, he stated, quoting the study participants.
As per the ITUC Global Rights Index 2024, Pakistani legislation lacks specific protections against discrimination related to union activities, leaving workers at risk of retaliation for engaging in union efforts”, the report noted. “The index categorises Pakistan among the ‘worst countries in the world to work in’, indicating that while certain rights are acknowledged on paper, workers often do not have real access to them, rendering them vulnerable to unjust labour practices”, it added.
(With Inputs from ANI)
