APWC calls for special measures for labourers

Lahore: The federal and the provincial government should take special measures to ease the sufferings of the monthly and daily labourers employed in the sectors of industry, trade, media and banks.

A large number of labourers are facing economic starvation on account of closure of industries and trade units due to pandemic coronavirus. Veteran trade union leaders Khurshid Ahmad, General Secretary All Pakistan Workers Confederation and Rubina Jamil, president of the confederation, called for providing the workers special monetary relief to save their families from

starvation.

The government must ensure safe working conditions to those working in open industrial and trade units, including banks and media. The government should introduce reforms in the federal and provincial budget to tackle the growing poverty, unemployment, disease and ignorance in the country and elimination of widening irrational gap between the rich and poor.

They demanded agrarian reforms and distribution of land among the landless peasants, elimination of bonded and child labour, abuse and discrimination against women at the earliest. They demanded the government restore the increased old age pension Rs8,500 announced by the federal government with effect from January 1, 2020 which had been deferred by the cabinet recently.

The labour leaders also called for amending the outdated labour laws and bringing them in conformity with ILO Conventions and Tripartite Labour Conference to give voice to the workers in policy making bodies in accordance with ILO Convention No.144.

These demands were raised in a special meeting of trade union representatives under the aegis of All Pakistan Workers Confederation (Regd.) at Bakhtiar Labour Hall on the eve of May Day to pay tribute to the martyrs of Chicago (America) on May 1, 1886, as the procession and large conferences were postponed due to pandemic coronavirus.