LAHORE: The World Labour Day was marked by rallies, processions and seminars, organised by various political parties, trade unions and civil society in the city on Wednesday, renewing commitment to uphold workers’ rights.

This year’s theme for the day was ‘Workplace health and safety amid climate change’.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) organised a rally outside the railway station to pay homage to the martyrs of Chicago. All-Pakistan Trade Union Federation workers also joined the event.

On the occasion, Chaudhry Aslam Gill, Mian Khalid Mehmood, Rubina Jameel, Inayat Gujjar, Nasir Gulzar and others addressed the participants and demanded that the minimum wages should be set at Rs50,000 per month, pension should be increased according to inflation and privatisation of the state-run enterprises should be stopped forthwith.

Punjabi language poet Baba Najmi paid a poetic tribute to the workers.

Drawing attention to the plight of labourers, daily-wage earners, working women, domestic workers, and low-ranking government employees, Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Naeemur Rehman asserted at a ceremony held at the party headquarters here that their rights had been trampled upon, while the ruling elite enjoyed all the luxuries in the country. He decried the disparity, noting that the ruling class was enjoying free electricity, petrol, and gas, while burdening the poor with unjustified taxes.

The Labour Education Foundation (LEF) held a rally near the Lahore Press Club, attended by workers of garment factories, brick kilns, PTCL, as well as home-based workers. Led by LEF Director Khalid Mahmood and Punjab Textile, Powerloom, Garments Workers Union Secretary General Niaz Khan, the participants marched from Shimla Hill up to Charing Cross on The Mall, raising slogans for better wages and trade union rights.

Mr Mahmood demanded that the minimum wages should be fixed at Rs75,000 per month as the current ones were too low to live a decent life. He demanded that labour department authorities should ensure implementation of health and safety standards in the industry, particularly the garments sector.

He pointed out that women workers are facing harassment both in the public and private sector institutions as those responsible for eliminating this menace are looking other way.

Niaz Khan called for regularisation of the jobs of daily-wagers and contractual workers, both in the public and private sectors, eliminating child labour from brick kiln industry and ensuring payments to workers of the industry as per law.

The Women Domestic Workers Union-Punjab, in collaboration with WISE (Women in Struggle for Empowerment), also held a rally at Shimla Hill and demanded implementation of the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 in letter and spirit, besides registration of domestic workers with PESSI.

Bushra Khaliq said women domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to discrimination in working conditions, terms of employment and other human rights abuses.

Shehnaz Ajmal demanded the government to increase the wages in proportion to the rising inflation and implement the minimum wages notification 2023.

Minhajul Quran Women League, at a seminar, highlighted the plight of the home-based workers.

Its vice-president Sidra Karamat regretted the lack of implementation of laws governing the sector.

The Mazdoor Kisan Party also organised a rally, demanding an end to the implementation of IMF policies in the country.

Addressing the participants, party leader Dr Taimur Rehman expressed solidarity with the Palestinians facing Zionist Israeli state’s atrocities.

Power sector workers held a rally outside the Bakhtiar Labour Hall to pay tribute to Chicago workers and highlight the sufferings of the working class.

Addressing the rally, trade union leaders pledged to make all-out efforts to establish a society based on social justice and self-reliance, besides abolishing unemployment and price hike.

They demanded safe working conditions for power workers in order to prevent fatal and non-fatal accidents.

The rally was addressed, among others, by union Secretary General Khurshid Ahmad, Akbar Ali Khan, Osama Tariq, Hassan Munir Bhatti, Ms Tasneem Akthar, Musarrat Shafi, Zahida Akhtar, Nausher Khan, Muhammad Jamil Butt, Salahuddin Ayub (PWD), Arshad Gujjar (Irrigation), Javed Iqbal Khan (Transport) and Sajjad Ali Abbasi (State Life).

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024