KARACHI: Labour leaders and trade unionists have urged the provincial government to remove obstacles in the process of labour union formation and make laws for complete abolition of the third-party and daily-wage contracts in the public and private sectors.

They were speaking at the 2nd Labour Law Conference 2022 to mark the Labour Day, organised by the Justice Helpline, a non-profit organisation working with the main objective of serving marginalised and underprivileged communities, in collaboration with the provincial labour department to mark Labour Day.

The labour leaders urged the provincial government to ensure implementation of all Inter­national Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions. They also underlined the need of registering maximum number of workers in Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institutions (EOBI) and Workers Welfare Board.

The speakers said that the retired employees of public sector entities should be given group insurance on retirement. They also demanded that the dues of retired and deceased employees of government agencies should be paid immediately.

Labour Secretary Laeeq Ahmed, who was the chief guest at the event, underlined the need of holding a tripartite labour conference to ensure effective implementation of labour laws.

He said that the work was being done to raise the minimum wages to Rs25,000 per month in the light of the directions of the Supreme Court and added that the decision would be implemented after required legislation immediately after Eid.

Speaking on the occasion, prominent labour leaders of the country, Sindh Peoples Labour Bureau President Habibuddin Junadi recalled that worst years for the labour class were during the dictatorships of Gen Ayub Khan and Gen Ziaul Haq.

He said that first labour conference was organised in Sindh by late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He said that Sindh also took lead in legislation for labours.

Mr Junaidi said that labour leaders and lawyers would be invited in the tripartite labour conference which would be held soon with Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto in chair.

Justice Helpline President Advocate Nadeem Sheikh presented the objectives of the conference and said that the recommendations for the betterment of labour class would be sent to the provincial government.

Salim Michael of Justice Helpline, President of Pakistan Railway Workers Federation Manzoor Razi, Nazar Hussain Jalali, Shakeel Yamin Kanga, All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation Central Chairman Syed Zulfiqar Shah Ali, Mardan Sheikh, Ikram Khan, Waris Gulnaz, Naveeed Ghauri, Malik Ijaz and Syed Saeed Mohiuddin also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2022