Govt urged to raise labourers’ wages in proportion to price hike

Trade unionists, political activists and workers on Sunday demanded that the government raise the wages of labourers in proportion to the price hike, withdraw all anti-worker policies and allow workers to form their unions at the workplace.

They vowed during the different events held to mark International Workers’ Day that they would continue the struggle for labour rights following in the footsteps of the martyrs of Chicago. They paid tributes to those who had laid down their lives during the struggle for the rights of labourers in Chicago in 1886.

‘Symbol of struggle’

Representatives of more than 36 labour rights groups, federations and labour-friendly civil society bodies attended a seminar titled ‘May Day: Symbol of Struggle: Constitution Supremacy, State Responsibility and Workers’ Rights’ at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi.

Senior labour leader Karamat Ali said May Day is one of the most unique days in the history of the world. “Due to the struggle of the workers in Chicago, the duration of eight hours of work, which is the right of all workers, has become possible today.”

He said labour unionisation is the weakest in Pakistan, with no clear figures available. “These figures are not available under the Constitution of Pakistan, and for compliance with ILO [International Labour Organisation] agreements, but according to an independent estimate, only one per cent are organised in the form of trade unions.”

He also said Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself was the president of the All India Postal Staff Union and a champion of labour rights. Regarding minimum wage, Ali said that according to the World Bank, 83 per cent of the people earn less than $2 (approximately Rs371) a day.

“It means that the minimum wage is not being paid to the workers in Sindh, while even today, despite the official announcements, the minimum wage is not available to the ordinary workers.”

He said that the implementation of Rs25,000 as minimum wage is now subject to notification, so it is imperative that all the workers come and struggle together on a single platform. He also said workers today demand that the law of the Quaid-e-Azam and the labour policy of Pakistan Peoples Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto be implemented immediately.

Others who spoke on the occasion included the National Trade Union Federation’s (NTUF) Nasir Mansoor, the NOW Communities’ Farhat Parveen, former Sindh High Court Bar Association president Salahuddin Ahmed, the Home-Based Women Workers Federation’s (HBWWF) Zehra Khan, labour leader Liaquat Ali Sahi, the Peoples Labour Bureau’s Habibuddin Junaidi, Sindh Bar Council Vice Chairman Zulfiqar Jalbani, the Pakistan Railways Workers Association’s Junaid Awan, the Aurat Foundation’s Mahnaz Rahman and labour leader Mirza Maqsood.

‘50pc below poverty line’

Speakers at another moot demanded that the government enforce labour laws at factories and other workplaces, abolish the contract system and ensure the payment of wages through bank accounts. The NTUF and HBWWF had jointly organised the event at the Labour Square in the SITE Area.

The speakers said that half of the population of the country has already gone below the poverty line. They said that during the last two years, more than 15 million people were rendered fully or partially jobless, and five million more families went below the poverty line; however, the rulers used helicopters to commute between office and home.

Labour leaders said the rulers are taking no serious steps to cope with the prevailing economic crisis. The worsening conditions in the country can give birth to a dreadful human tragedy, they added.

They said that the new government also has no solid plan or programme to bring betterment in the lives of the working-class people. The incoming and outgoing rulers both are befooling the masses with catchy slogans, they added.

They appealed to all organisations of workers, leftist parties, human rights organisations, journalists, lawyers, doctors, paramedics, students, youth, women, transgender persons, minorities, teachers and intellectuals to provide guidance to devise a joint programme to cope with the prevailing crisis.

The speakers included the NTUF’s Nasir Mansoor, Rafiq Baloch, Riaz Abbasi and Gul Rehman, the HBWWF’s Zehra Khan, Ainee Yaqoob and Parveen Bano, the United HB Garments Workers Union’s Saira Feroz and Zahida Parveen, the Youth Organisation Alternate’s Aqib Hussain and Bilawal, the SITE Labour Forum’s Bakht Zameen, the Baldia Factory Fire Affectees Association’s Saeeda Khatoon, and Taufeeq Ahmed.