HYDERABAD: Across the province on Wednesday, members of trade unions, labor organizations, civil society, and their supporters took to the streets in processions and rallies to commemorate International Labor Day.
In a unified voice, leaders demanded that the government formulate a pro-labor policy and enact substantial wage increases for laborers.
In Hyderabad, members of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union marched led by the union’s president Abdul Latif Nizamani. Nizamani urged the federal government to refrain from outsourcing national enterprises, warning that workers would besiege its offices otherwise.
He highlighted the constant stress faced by workers due to overworking, staff shortages, unemployment, and rising prices. Nizamani pointed out the increasing workload without corresponding new recruitments and lamented the non-payment of dues to Wapda workers. He warned of protests if the government persisted with privatizing the organization.
In Matiari, the Sindh Community Foundation, in collaboration with the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, Feed The Minds, and Indigo Textile, organized a workers’ convention titled “Social Justice and Decent Work for All”. Speakers addressed the challenges faced by around one million cotton workers, 90% of whom are women, especially in the hot weather conditions, and called for ensuring decent working conditions and legislative protection for women agricultural workers.
At another rally organized by the Muttahida Labour Federation, demands were made for the Employee Old-Age Benefits Institution’s (EOBI) pension to be commensurate with minimum wages, and for the PPP government to set minimum wages at Rs60,000 per month. Restoration of schemes for death and dowry grants, scholarships, and sewing machines was also urged, alongside demands for the utilization of coal from Lakhra coalfield to power the Jamshoro power house.
Similar rallies and processions were organized by various labor and trade organizations throughout the province, including in Larkana, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Naushahro Feroze, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot, Ghotki, Bhan Syedabad, and Dadu. Leaders and activists across these gatherings reiterated calls for better wages, working conditions, and the implementation of labor laws to protect workers’ rights, especially in the face of economic challenges and exploitation by contractors and the capitalist system.
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