LAHORE, June 2: The Pakistan Workers Confederation, Pakistan Labour Confederation and the Muttahida Labour Federation have urged the government to announce an increase in pay and allowances in the federal budget.

The demand was voiced at meetings of the three trade union organizations held here separately on Monday. The participants were of the view that increase in salaries and allowances had become due in view of the unchecked price hike.

PWC: Pakistan Workers Confederation members staged a demonstration on Nisbet Road to express resentment over the failure of the government to keep the prices under control and called for increase in emoluments commensurate with the increase in cost of living.

Punjab PWC president Gulzar Chaudhry and chairman Mohammed Yaqub said the salaried class was finding it difficult to make both ends meet due to government failure to maintain the price line of consumer goods. They said the government should not increase utility charges in the budget.

All-Pakistan Federation of Trade Union president Amin Rathore and Punjab Irrigation Workers Federation president Khushi Mohammed Khokhar said the price control mechanism had disappeared completely after the implementation of the devolution plan, and traders were at liberty to charge the consumers at will.

PWC vice-president Chaudhry Talib Nawaz said the number of pay scales should be reduced to minimize the gap between minimum and maximum salaries. The government should reduce the maximum salaries in case it could not raise the minimum salaries for reducing the pay and allowances disparity.

PLC: Pakistan Labour Confederation leaders criticized the government and the opposition leaders for their failure to attend to the problems being faced by the people.

At a meeting held here with Faqir Husain Bokhari in the chair, confederation secretary-general Mohammed Saeed said the assemblies were not attending to the problems of the working class because the legislators did not belong to this class.

Additional secretary-general Riaz Husain and vice-president Rafiq Qureshi said the government should not only enforce control over the prices but also introduce a system under which pay and allowances could be increased automatically in proportion to the increase in cost of living.

MLF: The Muttahida Labour Federation demanded a substantial increase in pay and allowances in the budget besides a solution to the problems created due to devolution of the labour department.