May Day observed with call to protect rights of workers

LAHORE : While May 1 is observed a holiday all over the world to honour the workers who won the right to eight-hour work day for workers across the world in May 1886, for labourers in Pakistan May 1 is still not a holiday. Most of them were at work on this day and many had a 12-hour work day which is very common. For those in whose name this holiday is observed, do not get a holiday.

Workers from across the country spoke about their working conditions in a virtual conference on this occasion arranged by Labour Education Foundation in the wake of Covid-19. Workers shared their ordeal and called for concrete steps to stop exploitation. Saba works in a garments factory and was there to raise her voice against the exploitation of workers. Her co-workers, mostly women, are made to work from 7am to 7pm without break, she said. “They say it is Ramazan and there is no need for a lunch break. They are called on Sundays as well. Some factories give half bonus, some give no bonus on the pretext of not doing well due to corona while big factories were fully working in 2020, she said. Workers work in sub-human conditions. They are not allowed to carry mobile phone. One worker had managed to take in a cellphone at work so that all of them could listen to the webinar, it was learnt. “Labour inspectors don’t make any difference,” she said. “The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer,” Saba said. Another worker, Murtaza Bajwa, said nobody is raising voice for labourers.

“Employers don’t give full wage. A worker makes Rs1,000 if he works 12 to 14 hours. The factory managers don’t give minimum wage and keep two records. Workers get Rs14,000 wage while minimum wage till recently was Rs17,500,” he said. Powerloom workers do more than is due, said another worker Azam Jutt.

They are made to do the cleaning after work and have to lift a beam that requires 4-6 workers. Many workers who have to do this on a regular basis complain of backache. Factory owners keep those who are ready to do all the work they are asked to but this is not fair. This amounts to forced labour, he said. The workers fear staying out of work and for this reason, give in to all the unjust demands, he said. Tajmeena, a home-based worker from KPK, said the amount of order has gone down drastically in the event of corona. Women who sold five embroidered chadors in a month, now sells one in three months. Bills accumulate which is a big source of tension. Then men are also home due to Covid. They and children have demands on women and home has become a difficult place, she said. Earlier, a virtual conference was held on home-based workers and the problems they are facing due to Covid.

POWER WORKERS: Electricity workers also held a conference to pay tribute to the martyrs of Chicago in 1886 and pledged to make successful the struggle to establish a society based upon equality and fraternity and social justice. They vowed to establish dignity of work and eliminate irrational gap between the rich and poor, feudalism and capitalism. A meeting of workers was held at Bakhtiar Labour Hall. Those who spoke on the occasion were Workers Confederation leaders Khurshid Ahmed, General Secretary, Rubina Jamil, President and other representatives of the confederation including Akbar Ali Khan, Ch Anwar, Osama Tariq, Niaz Khan and Khushi Muhammad Khokhar belonging to various affiliated trade unions.

The speakers underlined the need to tackle aggravating unemployment and rising abject poverty and unsafe working conditions of the workers. They demanded from the government to take effective measures to abolish child and forced labour and discrimination against women and allow the workers to raise their voice in policy making bodies by holding National Tripartite Conference in accordance with ILO Convention No144 ratified by the Pakistan which has not been held for last 10 years.