Labour Day rallies:Workers call for fixing Rs50,000 minimum wages

LAHORE: Workers on Labour Day demanded the government fix Rs50,000 minimum wage immediately, stop layoff of workers and give bigger share in decision-making.

A large number of labourers from different sectors, both public and private, gathered in front of the Lahore Press Club while industrial labourers held a big show on The Mall in front of Punjab Assembly. All of them rallied for their rights on the occasion of International Labour Day.

The labour leaders said, “It seems nobody cares to reflect on how the workers are keeping their body and soul together in times of phenomenal inflation. Hunger is staring in our face while the ruling elite have turned their face the other way.”

The industrial workers demand the employees and employers should have 40pc share each in decision-making. Government should have only 20pc of the share in decision making in Workers’ Welfare Board. Administration’s role should only be of management, they said. The decision must rest between the employers and employees, they demanded.

Other demands were right to form trade unions in garments and textile industries, representation of workers in the assemblies, social security for all, issuance of labour card and implementation of labour laws; equal pay for equal work, equal representation of women in decision-making, application of labour laws to agricultural workers, pension equal to the minimum wage, abolition of forced labour and child labour, enforcement of laws on home-based and domestic workers and implementation of ILO and GSP plus approved conventions.

Hundreds of workers belonging to Wapda/ electricity, railway, telecommunication, textile, transport, engineering, banks, press, brick kilns and other industries held a mass rally before Lahore Press Club carrying national flags and banners in support of their demands. They expressed great concern at closure of factories. Khursheed Ahmed, Rubina Jamil, Niaz Khan and others addressed the rally at Shimla Pahari.

Bhatta Mazdoor demand minimum wage according to Gazette notification 2022, demand implementation of Child Labour Act 2016 and education for their children. Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE) demands government implements Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 in letter in spirit, register domestic workers with PESSI, issue social security cards to workers and increase their wages in proportion to the rising inflation.

TDCP Workers & Staff Union Punjab demand regularization of services of Grade 4 employees. Daily wagers of PIA demand confirmation of services. Nadra employees demand abolishment of Section 43 of Nadra Ordinance 2000. Rana Hassan, General Secretary PTCL Workers Employees Union said workers were promised lucrative packages with privatisation which they never got. Now there are hundred thousand employees on contract, he said. People’s Party workers were also in good number. Shahida Jabeen, a veteran political workers called upon leader Bilawal Bhutto to raise voice for workers and demanded 100pc raise in wages immediately.

Garments worker Saba Ali Baig said employment is short-lived while there are long stretches of unemployment. She complained that there was time to reach at work while the workers always left the factory later than the off-time. The buses that take the workers back leave the factory late. The workers are not allowed to carry mobile phones which causes them distress. It was learnt that such issues are reported in factories where is no union. A senior lawyer, Barrister Naseem Ahmad Bajwa, who practices law in London, had come, especially for May Day. He said last 25 years have been very bad for Pakistan. He stressed it is imperative for all labour unions to join hands to protect rights of workers and change the system.