KARACHI: Labour organisations in many cities and towns of Sindh observed Labour Day on Sunday to pay homage to martyrs of 1886 Chicago oppression and reaffirm their resolve to continue struggle for the implementation of International Labour Organ­isation’s conventions.

Rallies, seminars and dialogue sessions were organised in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad, Badin, Sukkur, Larkana, Tharparkar, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Sanghar, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Ghotki and other districts on workers’ rights under the auspices of CBAs of various trade and commercial establishments, NGOs and labour organisations as well as labour wings of major political parties.

National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) and Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) held a gathering at Labour Square, SITE, which was attended by a large number of workers. It was jointly presided over by NTUF president Rafiq Baloch and HBWWF general secretary Zehra Khan.

Speaking to the participants, they and other labour leaders urged the government to raise wages of labourers in proportion to price-hike and freeze payment of all foreign loans and interest thereof to stabilise the sagging economy.

“The basic questions and demands raised by the Chicago workers still await answers,” they said, adding that history had proved that supremacy of capitalism had not only fomented wars and caused hunger, bloodshed, diseases and joblessness, but also strengthened an anti-human and anti-environment system which gave birth to all sorts of injustice.

A decisive victory over this system would guarantee sustainable peace and development in the world, they said.

They observed that capitalism was present in its worst form in a backward country like Pakistan.

They noted that half the population of the country had already descended below the poverty line.

They said the ruling elite were taking no serious steps to cope with the prevailing economic crisis.

The working class was facing a worst economic crisis due to the 2019 agreement with IMF, they said, adding that the prices of edibles especially wheat flour, pluses, sugar, rice, ghee, milk, meat and vegetables had gone beyond the reach of common man.

The cost of electricity, gas, medicines, petroleum products, public transport and education had dangerously been hiked, creating a hue and cry among low-income segment, they said.

In these circumstances, the only way out was that the working class should organise themselves by becoming an alternative political force and chalk out a joint programme to cope with the prevailing crisis.

Nasir Mansoor, Riaz Abbasi and Gul Rehman of the NTUF, Ainee Yaqoob and Parveen Bano of the HBWWF and Saeeda Khatoon of the Baldia Factory Fire Association also spoke.

HYDERABAD: All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers held a programme in Labour Hall where, among others, CBA chief Abdul Latif Nizamani spoke to the participants.

He demanded payment of minimum wage of Rs25,000 to all workers of public and private companies. Services of part-time workers and daily wage earners be regularised, he stressed.

He also demanded that workers’ children be given jobs according to the prescribed quota. He called for effectively checking unemployment in the country and implementation of ILO conventions in letter and spirit.

Paying rich tributes to the martyrs of Chicago, he said they sacrificed their lives for workers’ rights and implementation of labour laws across the world.

Mr Nizamani said that this CBA strongly opposed privatisation of state institutions which was being resorted to at the behest of Inte­rnational Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said price-hike had badly affected working class while employment opportunities were not being created.

He deplored that workers were being denied minimum wage. “There is an undeclared ban on formation of union at most private organisations,” he said, and urged government to implement ILO conventions and laws.

The CBA leader said that safety laws should also be implemented for workers doing hazardous jobs.

He pointed out that as many as 37 power houses in the country were lying closed which had led to an energy crisis. He criticised government for purchasing expensive electricity from independent power producers.

HWA rally

Hari Welfare Association (HWA) took out a rally from Allahwala Chowk to Nawabshah press club to mark the day. Peasants and rural workers participated in rally.

HWA president Akram Khaskheli told the participants that rural workers and peasants constituted over 70pc of workers in Sindh’s rural areas but they had never been given priority by Sindh government.

He said that millions of workers were without a decent work and social security including minimum wage. He stated that rural worker received around Rs6,000 a month only against the minimum wage of Rs25,000 fixed by Sindh government for unskilled workers.

PML-F slams sale of govt jobs

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Sindh general secretary Sardar Abdul Raheem in a statement said that workers in Sindh were deprived of their rights while government jobs were being sold.

He observed that those who raised slogans of socialism had now become billionaires but people of Sindh remained jobless while on-job workers were sacked.

He said the Constitution protected workers’ rights but rulers protected rights of capitalists instead of ensuring workers’ welfare.

AT demands relief to workers

Awami Tahreek senior vice president Abdul Qadir Ranto, Sajjad Chandio and others in a statement said that while Labour Day was being observed in the country, Pakistan government did not provide any relief to workers. They said price-hike and unemployment had made lives of workers miserable. They said domestic workers were not considered as labourers with the result that they were working with low wages.

They said that workers were not getting minimum wage in Sindh’s mills and factories where workers remained at the mercy of capitalists. They deplored that major organisations were being privatised to lay off their workers.

Programme at HPC

A joint programme under the aegis of the ‘United Left’ was held in the Hyderabad press club on Sunday to mark Labour Day. Leaders and activists of Sindh Hari Committee, Watan Dost Jamhoori Party, Tabqati Jaddojehad, Awami Workers Party, Awami Jamhoori Party and Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto attended the programme.

Speakers at the programme discussed unity of left wing organisations. Comrade Nisar, Bakhshal Thallu, Alia Bakhshal Thallu, Arz Mohammad, Lal Shah, Taj Mari, Mehboob Siyal, Samar Jatoi and Nisar Leghari told the audience that the question of capitalism should be focused strongly as it was destroying entire society and environment. They asked people to stay away from racialism while focusing on the ‘national question’. They said leftists should become active on the social media.

They resolved to hold another meeting on May 14.

The resolutions adopted at the programme demanded an end to IMF’s policy of privatisation of Pakistan’s major national institutions; minimum wage be fixed at per tola price of gold; subsidy to control prices of edibles; withdrawal of indirect taxes; and levy of taxes on the rich to lessen burden on the poor.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2022