“Rupee devaluation, inflation leave minimum wage wholly insufficient”, 1 May 2025

..the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) hosted a seminar on Wednesday to address one of the most pressing issues facing the country’s labour force: the failure to implement minimum wage law. The meeting at the Karachi Press Club brought together trade unionists, government officials, and labour activists seeking solutions to protect workers’ rights amid economic instability. ..Against the backdrop of spiralling inflation and currency devaluation that have eroded workers’ purchasing power, the seminar tackled the systemic failures that have left millions of Pakistani workers without even the basic wage protections guaranteed by law.

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Nasir Mansoor, workers’ representative in the Sindh Minimum Wage Board, opened the discussion by highlighting the stark contradictions in employers’ behaviour. “We have witnessed the resistance posed by employers in the minimum wage board. They would give money in charity, but wouldn’t pay their workers fair salary,".. He emphasised that Pakistan’s current minimum wage had become increasingly insufficient due to skyrocketing inflation and currency devaluation, which had left workers unable to afford even basic amenities. ..Bushra Arain of the Sindh Lady Health Workers Union spoke about problems in organising contract workers in the face of significant resistance.

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The technical aspects of minimum wage evasion were explained by Mirza Maqsood Ahmed of Piler, who detailed how employers manipulated legal language to reduce workers’ compensation. “Employers argue that social security and EOBI deductions should also be part of wages,” he explained, adding that most of the workers never get registered with these institutions. Ahmed pointed out that the lack of proper worker classification into skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled categories further enabled employers to keep wages artificially low, along with reducing gratuity and other benefits.