Tomorrow is the first of May, the day of the workers, labourers and the poor working class of the nation. Before moving on, let me put some questions in front of all of you.

Have you ever wondered who constructed these very surroundings in which you sit holding this magazine? Whose hard work, pain and sweat are soaked in these bricks and walls? Have we ever understood the importance of labourers in the society that we live in?

Labourers form a vital part of every country and nation. This is because there are many tasks that one cannot perform individually, which are assigned to these labourers on very low wages. They should be paid tribute for what they do, because these tasks would be so expensive if the labourers exploit our needs and charge high for their services. For example, what if the construction workers took a large amount of salary because of the fact that we cannot construct our houses ourselves and are forced to hire them.

Unfortunately, labourers are not credited fully for their hard work, dedication and services. They deserve our financial aid and kindness, yet many times they are exploited by the wealthy and are sometimes not even given the full payment of their services. People tend to ignore or snatch the rights of these labourers, because they know that labourers don’t often have much legal protection. And even if there are legal protections for labourers, they do not know about it or how to go about seeking that protection.

It is time that we change our attitude towards them. It is time that we understand their importance. It is time that we pay them some tribute for their hard work and kindness towards us. It is time that we love them and help them!

Luckily, we now live in a time when the whole world recognises their rights and pledges to support them. Let us also join hands and take out some time to help these people and spread a smile on their faces.

When we become determined to help them, then comes the question of ‘how to help them?’ Let us now check how that can be done in meaningful ways.

Change your mindset towards them:

The first act of kindness that we can do towards the poor and the labour class is to remove the hatred or prejudice for these people from our hearts. We need to understand the fact that like us, they are also humans, we need to stop considering them as inferior. If God has decided to keep them less economically and socially empowered than us, what is their fault? Like us, they also desire wealth, status, respect and leisure.

This is so unfair that we dislike them and do not associate with them because they don’t have as much money as we do, or because they are not as educated and skilled as we are. We need to be kind to them, understand their plight and help them. And we can do it all by simply changing our mindset towards them.

Well, if we flip the pages of history, we will realise that many improvements in a society or a nation’s fate were due to the changes that took place in the thinking of people.

For instance, our country Pakistan was only built once the leaders of the freedom movement brought about a change in the mindset of people, that led to a revolution and helped in making them realise the importance of the need for a separate homeland.

It is only after our mindset has changed that we can convince ourselves to take actions to do something for those less fortunate than us. Furthermore, just imagine if majority of the nation develops love, care and sympathy for labourers, the unskilled and poor, wouldn’t their situation change for the better?

Of course, it would! To bring about this revolution in our thinking, you need to play your part by changing your mindset.

Convince others to be kind to them:

Only changing your mindset is not enough on your part. Spread this word to your friends, relatives and peers so that they also understand the issue and help to further spread this awareness.

Confining a good thing to yourselves keeps the circle of good and the chances of improvements in society low. However, as you spread it, the circle spreads and embraces more and more people.

Be mindful of their wishes:

Every human being possesses some wishes deep in his heart, which he wants to see fulfilled. But there are many who do not get their ambitions and wishes fulfilled because of their circumstances.

Now let’s imagine if we become the source that makes others’ wishes come true, how much happiness we would be spreading all around? And this happiness would mean much more to a person who is unprivileged and does not possess much in life.

Now, I am not saying to start booking tickets for their trips or buying them plots. There are some other desires and needs of others that we can fulfil too. Being students, we can easily relate to how happy it would make a labourer’s son if we get him new stationery for school. At a larger scale, we can buy them a fan or a chargeable light for their home because they too, like us, will feel the intense summer heat, and in electricity shutdowns those battery lights will be a big blessing for them.

Never take away their rights:

It is a fact that the lower class amongst us is more vulnerable to injustices, unfairness and ill-treatment because they do not have the resources to raise their voice. While we should be acting kindly and be generous towards them, it is sad to see that we ourselves are suppressing their rights. If we cannot lend a helping hand, at least we should not snatch their rights from them!

As students, we should try not to annoy the sweepers and maids that work in our homes and should try to ease their burden. For example, we should not to unnecessarily make the surroundings of our homes and school dirty, which the sweepers are expected to clean. We should realise that by agreeing to pick up our garbage and clean up our mess, the sweepers are actually doing us a favour, doing what we don’t want to do, that exceeds the meagre amount they are paid.

Be polite to them:

It is often our tongue that heals other’s heart or breaks it. Being economically lower than us, there is a high chance that due to the feeling of superiority, we may speak to them harshly and scold them unnecessarily, which can easily hurt their feelings. It is important that we develop a sense of respect for labourers and this respect needs to be highlighted in our speech so that they are not distressed because of us.

These were just a few ways in which we can help these labourers.

Dear readers, Labour Day comes every year, we pledge to make the lives of these people easy but sadly, the plight of these people continues to worsen with time. The core reason behind this is that we are not taking strong measures to help them.

I question all my readers that what do you plan to do after reading this piece of advice? I am sure that many of us would put it away and continue with our routine life. This is where the fault lies.

This year, something different needs to happen. Take out some time from your routine, because this day comes only once a year. Prepare a nice little gift for the sweepers and maids that come to your home and try to help them. Bring an everlasting change in your attitude towards these people and play your part in making this year’s Labour Day different from the previous ones.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 30th, 2022