By Rana Hunain
He is hopeless! Painstakingly hopeless! His daughter’s face swirls around in his mind a hundred times a second. He can feel his dead wife’s solacing presence surrounding him. He watches cars zooming across the road near the plantation he works on. Extravagance around him makes his pitifulness more visible. By plantation owner’s rules, his labor doesn’t belong to him. He bemoans his life for not having freedom of choice and owning his labor. He doesn’t sell his labor in a voluntary exchange; the labor is owned by the plantation owner. He belongs to the group “HAVE NOTS.”
This is the everyday story of many we see in our society. Selling one’s labor to someone else is the oldest form of exchange, stretching back to early human developments. The most common story of the beginning of civilization delineated when agricultural societies became productive enough to generate food surpluses, then the need for a medium of exchange, placement of political power, and division of labor was felt. At this critical turn, nations worldwide decided on a pyramidical society. With the ascension of this NEW WORLD ORDER, we observe a pattern of classifications emerging like master and slave, aristocracy and common man, laborer and man with the lash. This binary arrangement of society produced dichotomies i.e., ruling class, working class. And capital was hand in hand with the ruling class and political authority.
Our conception of labor
When we think of labor or laborer, portraits of bricklayers, and peasants run across our eyes. Our view of work or labor is very much myopic. This confusion about the nature of work is readily described by the division of the workforce into blue-collar and white-collar workers. A laborer is anyone who sells their time in producing goods and services to an employer for a wage. Essentially white-collar workers are higher paid “corporate slaves.” Owning your labor is an intrinsic right in exchange. Here, owning profoundly means not selling your labor when you don’t want to sell. But practically, labor has to participate in an exploitative apparatus that feeds on labor while refusing to give equal standing. Historically, during the feudal economies of the middle ages, work was meant for the slaves and serfs. Employment in the current sense of the word was pretty much non-existent. The slave market provided slaves for any kind of labor. But it changed with the introduction of craftsmanship. Work was more than just producing goods and raising the standard of life. It was more of a way to express yourself in a dimension other than art and also the meaning and fulfillment it gave. When Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine chapel, it was employment.
Labor rights: an egalitarian deal
The doctrine of egalitarianism dictates that the best state of society encompasses freedom, equality, and justice. But this free-agent scheme was the recipe for imploding quagmire. The amount of money is proportional to the freedom of choice and liberty. Socialist movements of the 19th century were aimed at this conundrum that freedom to utilize private property was obfuscating equality for the masses. This tradition of opposing the ruling class still affects today’s leftist politics. Redemption of an equal society is concealed in redeeming labor rights.
Labor rights: a religious ideal
Religion has been the sole arbitrator for human conditions since the sophistication of mankind. This is what some of the major religions have to say about labor rights:
Christianity:
Jesus (PBUH) was a carpenter. A profession that represents wholesome work.
Bible says, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.”
Islam:
Islam doesn’t advise the socio-economic layout that polarizes society into binary dilemmas of owner and worker, those who HAVE and HAVE NOT.
Prophet Muhammad said, “pay the laborer before his sweat dries out.”
Labor Rights are Human Rights
Human dignity is sacred. Realizing, preaching, and protecting it are the noblest of deeds. If we find some group deprived of dignity and respect, we must devise a way to mediate their problems as a developed civilization. This is the sole reason we have human rights. Labor rights must be considered human rights to protect dignity and respect. Lack of labor rights or improper implementation of labor laws haunts the lives of the labor class. The poor labor class initiates a vicious circle of poverty which drags down the whole society. Labor rights are a marker of how we care about our less fortunate factions of society. Secondly, labor laws also help maintain equality.
Historical Movements
After four millennia of intellectual evolution, enlightenment taught us about individual liberty and free-enterprise economics in which accumulation of wealth was declared as antediluvian extinct. Labor was surrendered in front of big corporations. This created a rift throughout Europe. Astute politicians and business barons were crushing the labor class with 14-16 hour workdays 6 days a week. LABOR LAWS: a phrase with no introduction to the so-called civilized world. The labor market back then was a sophisticated form of slavery. Craftsmanship was replaced by mass production. Cities began to swell. Child labor was employed to fill intricate machine parts in confined spaces. Capitalists owned fruits of labor. Nature of work for the masses returned to a backbreaking ordeal. All this commotion in the air paved the way for labor rights movements across Europe in various regions of space and time.
The American labor movement in the 19th century was very much active in the struggle for the betterment of workers. Organized labor unions pushed for higher salaries, more reasonable working hours, and safer working conditions for people in the industrial sector. The labor movement spearheaded attempts to end child labor, offer health benefits, and assist wounded or retired employees.
Labor laws in Pakistan were formulated in the 60s. Later on, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was considered the leader of the masses and had socialist leanings, practically unionized every profession and crushed the capitalist class by nationalizing the enormous chunks of private conglomerates.
“Under the Factories Act, 1934, no adult employee, defined as a worker who has completed his or her 18th year of age, can be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of nine hours a day and 48 hours a week.”
UN activity about labor rights is centered upon ensuring the eradication of child labor, forced labor, and decent working conditions. The current state of the labor market across the globe, According to UN GLOBAL COMPACT:
- Almost one in ten children are subject to child labor, or 160 million children globally, a number that has risen for the first time in two decades
- 24.9 million people are trapped in forced labor
- More than 630 million workers worldwide — that is, almost one in five, or 19%, of all those employed — did not earn enough to lift themselves and their families out of extreme or moderate poverty
- Each day 7,500 people die from unsafe and unhealthy working conditions
- 74% of countries exclude workers from the right to establish and join a trade union, while 79% of countries violate the right to collective bargaining, and 64 countries deny or constrain freedom of speech and assembly
- Hundreds of millions of people suffer from discrimination in work because of their skin color, ethnicity or social origin, religion, or political beliefs.
Current Labor Movements
In America, during the pandemic, corporations laid off massive amounts of workers, which helped them maintain their stock prices, and their businesses didn’t go under. This cynical handling of labor has helped develop class consciousness in the worker community. America is experiencing what is dubbed “The Great Resignation.” Workers are demanding better wages and good health insurance. Leftist politicians are calling for higher tax rates on billionaires and pushing for legislation to up the minimum wage. Unionization is a powerful tool against the ruling class. A collective body that represents the common interest of workers. Workers of major corporations like Amazon and Starbucks have voted for unionization.
Future of Labor
We live in a craven, transactional economy where we are only worth as much as our personal brand, and jobs are unstable. With the advent of the gig economy like Airbnb, Bykea, Uber, and Foodpanda stability of jobs has vanished. You are not enlisted as an employee but as a contractor, i.e., Rider. Unfreedom has been veiled as freedom. But the future seems hopeful. After 30 years of unregulated economics, wealth inequality has soared, and the new generation is cynical about the current system. Socialistic sentiments are prevalent in Gen Z. According to the Institute of Economic Affairs, a study found that 67% of 16-25-year-old men are distrustful of the government and Wall Street.
All we need is a crystal clear description of objectives and a way to deal with politics. Individual actions are the backbone of any movement, which culminates in the acceptance of more significant goals of the labor class.
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