Prior to IFWEA's General Assembly in August, the facilitators for a new International Study Circle (ISC) on migrant workers met in Helsinki. Twelve countries from Europe and developing regions will be participating. The ISC will run simultaneously in Portuguese and English and help share experiences across many different cultures. Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (PILER) which has been involved in the organisation and education of migrant workers through its work mainly with informal sector workers, is one of the participating organisations. Musadiq Sanwal from PILER explains how they see ISCs strengthening their existing programmes.

PILER was set up in 1983 as a workers' organisation and education initiative. The major part of its energies is focused on the workers of Karachi, the industrial hub of Pakistan and one of the largest cosmopolitan areas of Asia. Karachi is inhabited by a very large number of migrant communities from inland as well as Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and some other countries in smaller numbers. PILER lobbied extensively over the years for the formation of larger trade union federations and confederations. It has been instrumental in establishing solidarity networks among the workers of Pakistan and South Asia in view of the globalisation of their economies. In other parts of the country, we work mainly through partner organisations in trade unions and federations and organise courses, seminars and demonstrations.

Through our work with women and child workers amongst the urban poor in Karachi, we became aware of a huge informal sector ever increasing in size and surviving under extremely subhuman working and living conditions. Its estimated proportions are alarming, amounting to more than 94% of the work force in Pakistan. It is in dire need of organisation. The plight of these informal sector workers doubles if they are also migrants. This is mostly the case in Karachi. While working in the slums of working class communities through its literacy centres for working children, these communities also shaped PILER’s idea of forming Community Based Labour Organisations (CBLOs). These became the focal point of organising informal sector workers around the issues of working conditions and labour rights. CBLOs increased rapidly to 16 working class areas in the last five years where they manage the literacy centres, organise community meetings and push for their rights as workers as well as citizens.

By the end of 1998, the first organisation of these CBLOs, All Karachi Hosiery and Garments Labour Association (AKHGLA) was formed followed by All Karachi Transport Workers' Association. In September this year, the membership of AKHGLA increased to two thousand. Its convention was attended by more than three thousand activists. Considering the total number of garment and hosiery workers in Pakistan, this is a very small initiative. There are similar organisations emerging. We hope that these will eventually transform into larger organisations with solidarity networks around the world. This seems to us the only way of not just surviving but fighting against the neo-liberal agenda of globalisation.

The experience of ISCs

In 1999, PILER was part of IFWEA’s ISC on Globalisation and Trade Union Responses in Asia. It was our first experience of holding a study circle. We were excited. Firstly, the course outline was directly relevant to us and secondly, it provided a badly needed opportunity for the member organisations of the region to meet and share experiences. It made us feel stronger about taking this opportunity to bring together the workers of the Asia Pacific countries and learn from each other. It also raised the issue of access to information technology not just for global corporations but for working communities of the world.

But the real task was ahead. With the situation of workers deteriorating daily and informal sector workers participating, it often required a lot more managerial effort to simply bring them together than envisaged by the facilitator's preparatory meeting. It was also difficult to run a programme isolated from the main line of work of participating organisations.

However within each local group, it was also exciting. The education process raised some old and some surprisingly new issues. Since our group consisted of informal as well as unionised workers, in the first few meetings there was considerable tension between the two. By the last few sessions, there existed solidarity not witnessed before. The fear of technology that we had initially experienced slowly faded away. In the first few sessions, we had to get across the concept of an ISC using the Internet resulting in good attendance, partly out of curiosity. Slowly the numbers of participants became smaller but focused. It was beneficial that the participants had an opportunity to feel part of a working community all over Asia facing similar problems and ready to take actions. They all believed that they needed regional and international solidarity to fight for their rights which had been taken away through globalisation and the imposition of Structural Adjustment Programmes.

Building international solidarity between migrant workers

PILER’s decision to participate in the ISC on Migrant Workers in the Global Economy, has two objectives. Firstly, we work with lots of migrant workers in the informal sector and it is important for them to share experiences with others in similar situations. Secondly, it will help educate them about the need for international solidarity. It will also make learning possible for these workers as each ISC session is only two hours. Long term courses are difficult because of their work situations. It will also help inspire a need for access to information technology for all.

After the regional ISC, this was a natural direction to take. It will help go beyond cultural, social, economic and political barriers, as workers themselves have to experience in a global market of today. Especially in the case of a study circle on migrant workers, it was all the more important to explore the possibilities of collaborative study beyond regions, as migration itself does not strictly follow any regional patterns. In recent decades, labour migration has been more towards the countries where employment opportunities are better even if workers' rights are not protected.

IFWEA also needs to initiate other educational activities alongside ISCs. In order to become an effective body of workers' education, it should explore similar innovative avenues of learning combined with the study circles. International campaigns on issues like social security for all can help generate an active involvement of member organisations. Films, theatre and music could be one way of reaching out to workers especially in developing countries where literacy levels are low but where the bulk of world's poor live.