LAHORE, Aug 4: The Pakistan Workers Confederation and its affiliated trade unions will observe a countrywide protest day on Aug 12 to express resentment against the failure of the government to protect the lawful rights of the workers.

The workers will hold rallies and meetings in all the industrial areas in the country to draw the attention of the government towards their growing miseries due to denial of the lawful rights by the employers and demand removal of restrictions on their collective bargaining rights.

Addressing a meeting held in connection with the protest day arrangements at the Bakhtiar Labour Hall, Punjab PWC President Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhry said the labour laws were being violated flagrantly in both the private and public sector organisations. The workers were not only being denied the minimum wages but also employed on contract basis against permanent nature jobs.

PWC Chairman Muhammad Yaqub said that the state had left the working class at the mercy of the private and public sector employers and become a silent spectator to the violation of its own laws.

He said that the restrictions imposed on the exercise of collective bargaining rights by the state were preventing the workers from protecting their legitimate rights.

Pakistan Wapda Hydro-Electric Central Labour Union Joint President Badrul Islam Abdali said the working class was finding it difficult to make both ends meet because of continuous and unchecked increase in cost of living without corresponding increase in wages. Not only the private sector manufacturers and traders were free to raise the prices of their merchandise at will but the public sector organisations also continued raising the costs of the utilities like electricity, gas and POL.

All Pakistan Trade Union Federation President Muhammad Amin Rathore said unemployment and cost of living were on the increase due to the miserable failure of the government economic policies tailored under instructions from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

He said the government was following the dictates of the two international lenders despite the fact that their loans were only adding to the miseries of the common man.

All Pakistan Federation of Labour President Chaudhry Talib Nawaz said the privatisation of education, health and organizations providing utilities like electricity and gas would result in unlimited increase in the costs of these basic services and utilities and the common run of the people would be deprived of the facilities like education and healthcare.