Unsung urban heroes

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The recent protest by over 300 sanitation workers in Rawalpindi is a damning indictment of how Pakistan treats the men and women whose blood, sweat and tears keep cities clean. The protesting workers marched to demand an unpaid Eid honorarium promised by the Punjab chief minister and the regularisation of contract employees to reward them with some job security. Amazingly, their demands do not even scratch the surface of the challenges they are facing.

Sanitation workers are universally underpaid - few people realise their importance to society. The public health impact alone pays for any additional costs. Yet, sanitation workers still struggle to get the most basic workplace protections. Between April and July, at least 16 sanitation workers died on the job for reasons that were completely avoidable if they had been given even the most basic safety equipment for their jobs. Even more have died due to the stress of not being paid on time, unfair pay deductions, or other violations of workers' rights.

The long-running practice of reserving sanitation jobs for religious minorities is also problematic, not just because it can act to strengthen stereotyping of minorities, but also because giving these 'dirty' jobs to minorities helps governments meet quotas and ignore minority applicants for other government jobs. Giving 95% of dead-end sanitation jobs to minorities is an easy way to deny them promotion-eligible office posts, thus complying with the letter of the law while holding its spirit in contempt.

All of these issues can be addressed through even the mildest forms of good governance. Unfortunately, because the victims are at the bottom of the societal food chain, the government can confidently continue the practice of denying them job security, or even access to affordable healthcare. It should not be more dangerous to be a sanitation worker than a policeman or a soldier.