Hundreds of labourers including women workers on Sunday participated in trade unions' seminar at Hamdard Centre and later gathered at Gelani Park Jaild Road from where they took out rally till Shadman Chowk to mark the May Day.
All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF), Working Women Organisation (WWO), Hamdard Employees' Union, Shaheen Workers' Union, Pakistan Labour Wing Union, Peoples' Labour Union (Royal Leather Group), Shaheen Employees Union, Railways Workers' Union and other trade unions jointly organised the events to pay tribute to Chicago labourers who sacrificed their lives for the protection of workers' rights around the world.
Rally was led by ATUF chairmen Sultan Khan, WWO executive director and PTUF general secretary Aima Mahmood, federation president Fazal Wahid, union leaders Nasir Mahmood, Munir Dogar, Salma Liaqat, Bushra Tabbasum, Nasim Anwar, Safia Bibi and others.
Holding placards and banners inscribed with anti-capitalisation, anti-feudalism and anti-privatisation slogans, home-based female workers, agriculture and factory workers and labourers of other sectors participated in the seminar and rally.
They chanted slogans against contract system in factories, banks, private and semi government institutions and other sectors and demanded of the government to ensure direct and permanent employment system.
WWO ED Aima Mahmood, addressing the workers, said that 70 per cent of labourers in Pakistan worked in absence of labour laws. They got lower salaries, their children and families were without basis health and education facilities but the government failed to introduce reforms in labour sector.
She said that child labour could not be eliminated in the country and 3.8 million children work alone in agriculture sector. Highlighting the plight of women workers in different sectors, she said: "Women workers get low salary despite equal labour along with their men colleagues. Their work environment is unsafe. They are deprived of from basic facilities of social security and old age benefit," she said.
Aima demanded 33 per cent representation of women workers in trade unions and also demanded of the world organisations, government and trade unions to play their role for the equal rights and protection of women workers. She also spoke for the rights of home-bases workers which were the most neglected class. She said unity among labour unions were the need of the hour to protect the rights of workers.
Sultan Khan said the trade unions were losing their role for the protection of workers due to non-implementation of government policies and labour laws. He asked the government to call national conference of trade unions, employers to ensure implementation of labour laws in the country.
Fazal Wahid asked the government to end privatisation policy. He demanded of the government to announce national labour policy.