LAHORE: Labour and civil society organisations staged a sit-in and organised a labour conference outside the press club here on Thursday.

The conference-cum-sit-in participants urged the government to take steps to implement existing labour laws and ensure payment of minimum wage throughout the province.

AWP Secretary-General Shazia Khan said despite repeated appeals, the Punjab government had not implemented the minimum wage it announced in the province.

She said kiln workers had been protesting and demanding the implementation of the labour laws for eight months.

“Holding the South Asia Labour Conference is nothing more than an eyewash. If the government is serious about improving working conditions of labours in factories, it should have taken concrete steps before holding the conference,” she said.

Labour Education Foundation director Kahlid Mehmood said the government had not withdrawn minimum 50 workers for registration of union and the non-availability of NIRC judges was clear evidence for lack of political commitment in protecting workers rights.

He said the government was holding the labour conference at South Asia level but it was not ready to implement its labour laws.

Pakistan Bhatta Mazdoor Union secretary-general Mehmood Butt said the authorities concerned had repeatedly assured kiln workers of the implementation of minimum wage of Rs740 per 1,000 bricks, but so far nothing practically was done in this regard.

He said kiln workers from Multan, Faisalabad, Jhang, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Mandi Bahauddin, Nankana, Toba Tek Singh, Layyah, Rajanpur, Lahore and other districts had gathered at the roadside labour conference to discuss their problems.

Labour organisations, including Labour Action Committee, Labour Qaumi Movement, Awami Workers Party, Labour Education Foundation, Pattan Development Organization, Pakistan Institute of Education and Research, HomeNet Pakistan, Textile Power Loom Garment Worker Union, Punjab, and Pakistan Bhatta Mazdoor Union, participated in the conference.