The lives of the 200 Khanewal workers and their families
have been greatly improved by the settlement. 
Pakistan
requires any worker employed for more than 9 months to be considered permanent,
but many of the workers at the Khanewal factory had been “temporary” for over
15 years.  These permanently “temporary”
workers formed the Khanewal Worker’s Action Committee to regain their rights
and as a result of their struggles have been given preference for the 200
permanent positions.  Before the
settlement, the IUF reported
that only 22 out of close to 700 workers were considered permanent at the
factory; the vast majority were sourced from employment agencies which offered
them one third the daily wage of a permanent worker, no job security, no
overtime, no social security and no health or social security benefits.  The last two are required by the government
and constituted another part of the settlement in which Unilever agreed to pay
out lump sums to those workers whose agencies failed to pay the taxes for their
Social Security and Health benefits (for more on the settlement click here).
 

Worldwide the number of contract workers and precarious work
continues to grow – the favorable settlement received by the Khanewal workers
is unfortunately more the exception than the rule.  Workers hired on “temporary” contracts or
through an agency regularly receive a fraction of the wages of permanent
workers, have little or no benefits, and no job security.  These workers are often legally barred from
forming or joining a union; where it is possible the precarious nature of their
work makes it more difficult to exercise and defend their rights.  Indeed, contract workers are frequently used
by management to reduce the power of a union and replace those workers who
actively defend their rights.  More on
this subject can be found here,
in the Freedom At Work section of our website.

Unilever, the parent company of Lipton and owner of the
Khanewal factory, has been a case study in the rise of contract labor.  A report on the company has shown that over
the last 30 years turnover almost doubled while the workforce has been halved
(a drop of 150,000 workers!).  How is
this possible?  The magic of contract
labor and “restructuring” means that an estimated 300,000 workers who produce
Unilever products are not directly employed by the company. 

Lipton has recently promoted itself as a company that is
committed to improving its workers lives. 
The question left unanswered by this statement is how they will treat
the hundreds of thousands of workers who contribute directly to their company
but are not legally employed by them.  Khanewal
took the eyes and attention of numerous groups to be resolved, surely Unilever
can do a better job of  If Unilever is
serious about improving the lives of all their workers, they will welcome
stronger third party monitoring and establish a system that can effectively enforce
rights and labor standards for both regular and contact workers.  The workers at Khanewal have been an example
of determination and dedication to a cause, and their international partners
have done amazing work to bring their predicament into the open.  Congratulations to the Khanewal workers who
now have permanent status.  For many
others who continue to toil in the margins, the fight goes on.