QUETTA: The working conditions of labourers and mine workers in Balochistan are going from bad to worse as mine owners and other institutions are denying them their rights, said leaders of labour organisations on Monday.

A majority of labourers work for daily wages and are not being provided with any of the facilities they should be able to avail as per the labour laws, they said.

Many of them are not even registered with the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI), they added.

Various labour organisations, including the All Pakistan Labour Federation (APLF), Pakistan Cen­tral Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF), Pakistan Workers Confe­deration Balochistan (PWC), PWD Employees Union, Qesco Labour Union and PMDC Employees Union, organised rallies around the provincial capital to pay tribute to the Chicago martyrs.

The participants of the rallies marched through the main roads of the city carrying banners and placards with their demands printed on them.

They gathered on the lawn of the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation where labour leaders, including APLF president Sultan Muhammad Khan, PCMLF chairman Muhammad Zameen, PWC’s provincial chairman Ramzan Achakzai, Ali Bakhsh Jamali and Agha Sultan Shah, addressed the workers.

“Parliament does not represent the labour class and has no time to discuss our issues or problems being faced by the working class,” they said.

They also strongly criticised the government for ignoring the problems of the working class.

They demanded that salaries and wages of labourers be increased and job security be ensured in the Quetta Electricity Supply Company and other government institutions.

“The Workers Welfare Fund, social security and EOBI should be extended to mine workers as well,” they said, adding that the age limit of mine workers for the EOBI pension should be decreased to 50 from the current 55.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2017