Lockdown exposed plight of labourers, working class’

Islamabad : The ongoing lockdown which is effective across the board has exposed plight of labourers and working class across the country.

“The Government should not do just lip service this time and take concrete steps to resolve problems being faced by the labourers and save them from starvation,” Shamsur Rehman Swati, President of the National Labour Federation (NLF) in a statement on eve of the Labour Day which falls on May 01 (today) said.

He also demanded of the Government to fix minimum monthly wages at Rs30,000 and Rs15,000 as minimum monthly pension.

The NLF reiterated his demand that workers laid off from industries should be restored to their jobs along with payment of salaries while arrangements should be made for provision of ration and financial support to informal workers.

He observed that it was responsibility of the Government and its concerned departments to ensure protection of rights of workers of the informal sector including their registration for social cover. “Presently there are nearly 60 million informal workers in the country and they are deprived of social security for want of registration,” he said.

The informal workers he said include those working in agricultural sector, fisheries, hotels, taxi and rickshaw drivers, labourers in wholesale and retail markets etc.

Moreover, Swati said that corrupt mafia and contractual system was also playing with lives of the working class and main sources of their exploitation. “To address all these issues, it requires legislation and effective implementation of laws,” he said.