Interview with Niaz Khan, Daud Khan, Rashida Bibi and Mehwish from the Ittehad Labour Union Carpet Industries Pakistan (ILUCIP)
On the 8th of September the ITGLWF interviewed Mr Niaz Khan, Mr Daud Khan, Mrs Rashida Bibi and Ms Mehwish in Lahore, Pakistan. The following is a summary of that interview and portays the real life difficulties of workers in the carpet industry.
From left to right: Mehwish, Rashida Bibi, Francis Doherty, Niaz Khan and Daud Khan
Rashida Bibi is 38 years old married carpet worker in Pakistan. She has been a member of the ILUCIP for the past 8 years.
Rashida first began working on carpet weaving after she married. Rashida and her husband worked from home weaving carpets on a piece rate basis, which in the carpet industry means per square foot of carpet woven.
Rashida explains that women in the weaving sector face a number of health problems because of the poor working conditions in the factories and their homes “after 10-15 years the joints of our knees and our shoulders are badly damaged and our eyesight becomes very weak”. She also states that “many women suffer breathing problems including TB”. Niaz Khan, the General Secretary of the ILUCIP adds that by 40 years of age most carpet weavers will be almost blind because of the strain on their eyes due to poor lighting and long working hours.
Mehwish is 17 years old, and she joined the union when she was 14. With the support of the ILUCIP she is currently attending college and works 5-6 hours as a carpet weaver in the evening to support her household income with her mother and sister. Mehwish first began working in the carpet industry through her mother “When I was a child my mother was a home based carpet weaver, and I began helping her to produce more because the wages she received was so low that the family could not survive.”
When asked if child labour still exists in the villages Mehwish and Bibi both answer “yes”. Mehwish said “yes, children as young as 6 or 7” while Bibi had recently seen “10 and 11 year olds” working full time with their mothers.
Mehwish and Bibi also agreed that “most children are forced to work because the fees in private schools are too high, and the women are not even paid enough to cover other basic needs.” “Only a very low number of children go to school full time”.
Niaz Khan points out the contrast between the wages earned by workers and the vast sums paid for Pakistani carpets. " A worker in Lahore is paid 200 rupees per day (USD $2.20), while in Muridke it is 120 rupees ($1.0) and home workers receive 50 rupees per day (0.56 (56Cents)). The living wage figure is 500 rupees per day (5.60 USD). The best quality carpets sell for 1 million rupees or 11,310 USD but workers receive only a few dollars worth of this. The higher the quality the carpet the more negative impacts it has on a workers health because of the detailed work and long hours. "
Both women became involved in the union when the ILUCIP began organising in their villages. Bibi explains how the organising campaign occurred. “The union began in our village, then it moved to Safdrabad, and from there to another village focusing on homeworkers, we now have 255 carpet union members in 9 or 10 villages, 249 of these are women homeworkers, while 6 workers work in the same large room together.
Bibi and Mehwish also pointed out the lack of gender equality for workers in the carpet sector “For example the Karhana weaving factory in Safdrabad, in this factory, men are paid more than women.”
Niaz Khan pointed out that the ILUCIP is supporting the women by ensuring that there are “ training activities held in the villages, we have recently organised activities in 5 villages, and always ensure that the homeworkers are participants in the big processions and meetings in Lahore.”
Bibi states that it is very difficult to organise workers because “It is hard to mobilise them because women find it hard to leave the home, but unions are helping to change this.” “The workers also do not want a union because they are afraid, but when we achieved wage increases they join because they see the success we have” “We secured wage increases after the strike, then workers from 4 villages joined the union when they had seen the wage increase”.
When asked about the main problems facing the workers Mehwish replied “low wages and work diseases” Bibi made an appeal for “International solidarity and support for gender equality and equal wages, this is our appeal to mankind and ITGLWF”
Daud Khan is the current President of the ILUCIP and founding member along with Niaz Khan. Both Niaz and Daud worked in the same carpet factory at the time of the union being founded. Daud still works in a carpet factory as a washer. He shows me the scars on his hands and feet and how the chemicals such as caustic soda had removed layers of skin and hair from his hands, legs and feet.
Daud spoke of how and why the workers first formed the union in Lahore. “Before the union I played cricket every Friday evening, and there we discussed about wages we meet with cricket teams from 8-9 other factories. Then one Friday we agreed on the need to increase our wages.”
“We each went and spoke to the employers and the next Friday when we met we had all received the same reply from the employers which was, if any other owner increases the wages then I will increase wages too.”
“Then we decided to establish a union, our voice was one and our demand was one”
“In 1993 we set up the union and we increased the wages by between 5-10% each year until 1996. In 1997 at our General Assembly we realised what was a just wage what we needed to achieve was a 100% increase.”
“More than 1,000 workers came to Lahore to rally in June 1997, we gave employers until June 10th if the owners did not meet our demand of 100% wage increase we would go on strike on the 11th of June.”
On the evening of the 10th of June no employers came to meet us so we gave the go ahead to strike. On the 11th of June 137 factories went on strike in Lahore. In the evening the manufacturers association and exporters association came and said I will talk to you tomorrow.”
“The next day in the meeting the owner of the factory where I and Niaz worked agreed to pay over 50% increase and we called off the strike, we had broken the employers resistance and the monthly salary increased to 1,100 Rupees of which 600 Rupees was the increase.”
“After that the workers believed in the union, with the union they were strong”
“Between 1997 and 2005 every two years we negotiated a 5-10% increase in discussions with employers. In 2005 again we had to strike because the employers refused to pay.”
“This time we used a different strategy, we divided Lahore into two zones and phased the strike in one zone and then another and the tactic was successful. In the first week 28 factories and washing factories owners agreed to sign the union’s demands, and then a few more every day signed the agreement.”
“After 9 days all owners had agreed to sign the trade union’s demands. Then we began the strike in the second half of Lahore and also in Peshawar. In the end we succeeded in increasing wages by 500 Rupees per month in Lahore and Peshawar.”
“In 2002 we began to focus a lot more on weaving factories and now we have 1,150 workers in the weaving factories and over 4,000 in washing and stitching factories. Then in 2003 we moved to rural areas to organise home based workers and the informal economy.”
“Our aims are to increase workers by 400-500 workers every year”
This Interview was conducted by Mr Francis Doherty ITGLWF Projects Coordinator in Lahore on the 8th of September 2011. Questions and Replies where translated by Mr Niaz Khan General Secretary of the ILUCIP.
