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17 October, 2024On 7 October, World Day for Decent Work, IndustriALL affiliates in Pakistan held countrywide protest action against precarious work, anti-worker labour law reforms, and unsafe working conditions.
Workers and their unions in several cities and towns of Pakistan took to streets on 7 October to raise their collective voice against anti-worker policies and practices in the country. The joint trade union action was taken following a discussion in the meeting of all IndustriALL’s affiliates in Pakistan organised on 24-25 September in Karachi in which union leaders vowed to collectively fight to safeguard workers’ rights in the country.
On World Day of Decent Work, the Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF), the Pakistan Chemical, Energy, and Mines Federation (PCEM) and NTUF organised a joint protest meet at the Karachi Press Club. Union leaders condemned the anti-worker policies of the federal and provincial governments, including the Sindh government's unwarranted delay in issuing revised wage notification. Unions also criticised the new labour laws, calling them anti-worker and in stark contradiction to the international labour conventions.
Nasir Mansoor, general secretary of NTUF, says:
“The new labour code attempts to legitimise the third party contract system and it is a death knell for workers’ rights. We refuse to accept it and we demand that both Sindh and Punjab governments engage with trade unions on the matter.”
The All Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Workers Union and Ittehad Labour Union Carpet Industries Pakistan also organised a similar protest meet in Lahore. In Quetta and Choa Saidanshah, members of Pakistan Central Mines Federation (PCMLF), raised the issue of hazardous working conditions in mining areas which are further exacerbated by the contract system and operation of illegal mines.
Sultan Muhammad Khan President, secretary general of PCMLF, says:
“Mine workers in Pakistan are working and living in deplorable conditions. They work for long hours without getting adequate compensation and they also do not have access to any social security. We urge the government of Pakistan to ratify ILO C176 immediately. We believe it will be a positive step in the direction to provide safe working conditions to mine workers in the country.”
On 13 October, IndustriALL’s affiliates and other progressive groups organised a protest march in Karachi against growing religious intolerance in the country. Affiliates reported that the Pakistan state authorities did not allow the programme to be conducted and Zehra Khan, general secretary of HBWWF, and other activists were detained by the police. Nasir Mansoor and others leaders were also subjected to physical violence by police officials.
Kemal Ozkan, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL, says:
“IndustriALL stands in complete solidarity with the struggling workers and trade union leaders of Pakistan who are fighting not only against anti-workers labour reforms but also fighting to restore democracy in the country. We urge the federal and provincial governments of the country to engage in social dialogue with trade unions and take concrete steps to safeguard human rights as well as workers’ rights.”