Workers vow to hold countrywide strike against inflation, privatisation

LAHORE : Workers, students, peasants and trade union leaders from public and private enterprises across Pakistan gathered at central workers convention organised by Red Workers Front (RWF) at Bakhtiar Hall here on Saturday agreed on holding a countrywide general strike against inflation, unemployment and privatisation.

“Mazdoor ki ujrat kitni ho- aik tola sonay jitni ho”- the sloganeering with brief intervals continued in five hours long programme in the hall. “Determine minimum wages of a worker as price of one tola gold”, the hundreds of participants passed a resolution.

Finance Secretary Adeel Zaidi said that they have demanded fixing wages with price of gold because unfortunately the wages were not raised according to rate of inflation. “The price of gold can serve as a matrix to strike a balance between rise in wages in wake of rise in inflation”, Zaidi commented. This government does not have the capacity to pose a solution to any labour class issue, says labour rights activist from Karachi Anam Khan.

This is the organic crisis of capitalism. However, the beneficiaries of the system in a bid to shift blame are holding only one person responsible. In order to deliver the working class, to save humanity, there is a need to uproot this system, he said.

President, RWF, Aftab Ashraf said that the working class in Pakistan for a long period of time has pledged peacefully for its rights. However, no rule whether civilian or military, no political party, no bureaucrat proved to them a friend or a sympathiser rather oppressors and usurpers, he said. “The working class through its decade long experience has concluded it needed to snatch its rights”, Ashraf said. The labour of Pakistan no more has any ambiguity about the exploitative role of the ruling elite of Pakistan, he said. He stressed for establishing a rule of labour for emancipation of labourers’ miseries. “Let’s establish ‘Mazdoor Raaj’ for future of humanity”, Ashraf maintained. Karim Parhar, a labour leader from Balochistan, shared details of an ongoing movement of residents of Gwadar for their rights. He deplored it has been many years that they had been suffering and living under depreciation. However, no ruler, politician or media bothered to serve as their voice, he said.

The hall participants expressed their solidarity for the Gawadar workers. The trader union leaders across Pakistan, Aziz Khan from General Tyres Union Karachi, Mukhtar Gujjar from APCA, Faiza Rana from PPLA, Fazeel Asghar from Punjab University, other leaders from PTCL, Wapda, Lesco, Wasa, Kissan Committee, etc. also spoke on the occasion. At the end of the programme, a rally was held on Nisbat Road.