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13 July, 2000Job discrimination against women must be eliminated says Pakistan union.
PAKISTAN: On July 11, a large meeting held by the IMF-affiliated All Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions, in Lahore, demanded that the government take immediate measures to improve the quality of both working and living conditions for women workers in the country.
Dignity of work, prevention of sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work and an end to discrimination in the workplace were among the demands made for the female workforce, who make up nearly half of the total population. The government was requested to check spiralling prices of essential commodities and increase workers' wages and family pensions for widows commensurate with the hike in prices.
Delegates at the meeting also demanded that the government restore basic trade union rights to 140,000 Wapda workers (see earlier website news items from 1999/2000 and the IMF NewsBriefs or previous Fax News) as well as May Day as a public holiday. Readers may remember that the president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, made promises in line with these two demands on May 3, 2000.
Dignity of work, prevention of sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work and an end to discrimination in the workplace were among the demands made for the female workforce, who make up nearly half of the total population. The government was requested to check spiralling prices of essential commodities and increase workers' wages and family pensions for widows commensurate with the hike in prices.
Delegates at the meeting also demanded that the government restore basic trade union rights to 140,000 Wapda workers (see earlier website news items from 1999/2000 and the IMF NewsBriefs or previous Fax News) as well as May Day as a public holiday. Readers may remember that the president of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, made promises in line with these two demands on May 3, 2000.