ISLAMABAD: Trade union leaders at a May Day gathering called upon the government to halt the privatisation of state entities and end unemployment, price hike, loadshedding and terrorism.

They also sought the regularisation of all contractual employees, daily wagers and the raising of the minimum wage in accordance with the rise in prices of essential commodities.

“Workers of Pakistan have been through very deplorable conditions these days – worse than the labourers of Chicago in 1886.

“Unemployment, fluctuation in prices, depressing poverty, inequality, low wages, job insecurity, and contractual and daily wage systems have made labourers’ lives miserable. We will have to repeat the history of Chicago for the acceptance of our demands,” union leaders said at a function organised to commemorate the sacrifices of Chicago workers for the rights of labourers around the world.

The Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) and the Capital Development Authority’s Mazdoor Union organised the event. Other unions, including those of Public Works Department, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd, All Pakistan Akhbar Farosh Federation, Radio Pakistan, Sports Board, Islamic University Employees Council, attended the seminar.

The unionists also criticised the lawmakers for being completely disconnected from the plight of labourers. “Someone born with a golden spoon in their mouth, sleeping in an air-conditioned room, driving an air-conditioned car and working in an air-conditioned office rarely knows what problems are faced by a labourer working under the hot sun,” CDA Mazdoor Union Secretary General Chaudhry Mohammad Yasin said.

He said that the working class be given representation in the federal and provincial legislatures. Despite being the largest segment of society, labourers have no representation, he lamented. Only a representative from amongst the working class can truly raise voice for the rights of workers, he added.

Zahoor Awan, Secretary General of Pakistan Workers Federation, paid tribute to the workers of Chicago who laid down their lives for the greater good of labourers. “They sacrificed and achieved what they wanted; now it is our turn to continue this struggle to seize our fundamental rights,” he observed. He expressed a hope that the government would take steps to secure the rights of workers.

Mr Awan called for the framing of a uniform labour policy for workers. He also appealed to the government to issue orders for the implementation of labour laws in accordance with the International Labour Organisation conventions.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Zafar Ali Shah said that the sacrifices of Chicago’s workers had paved way for the safeguarding of workers’ rights until now. It was necessary to take this struggle forward, he said, adding that labourers were the backbone of any economy.

Shah also spoke in favour of raising wages and agreed with the suggestion that, like women and minorities, workers be given representation in provincial and national assemblies. The senator urged his own government to reinstate and regularise all sacked and contractual employees.