MORE than 130 years after its designation as International Workers’ Day, May 1 continues to be a bleak reminder of an unfinished journey, with much of the developing world still working under abysmal conditions. Here, the occasion saw the Pakistan Workers Federation highlighting the multiple challenges faced by the working class of the country. Low wages, unsafe working conditions, lack of job security and limited access to healthcare and social protection continue to dog Pakistan’s workers. The PWF stressed the struggles of those working in the informal economy and demanded the government enforce labour laws that ensure access to safe work, social protection and healthcare. The prime minister, too, highlighted how disruptions in the global market have worsened the living crisis and put working people under “tremendous stress”.

Though the PM hit the right notes, as leaders generally do on this day, over the years, there has been little improvement in the plight of workers — despite the existence of laws and social protections. Unemployment is on the rise, the prices of commodities are at an all-time high, working conditions for thousands are unsafe and the government is not doing much by way of providing relief. The political and economic instability, which began in the PTI’s tenure, has aggravated under the PDM government, giving no hope to a working class facing the horrors of high costs. The government must do more than tweet platitudes to mark workers’ rights. It is not enough to call the cost of living crisis a “global challenge”. In Pakistan, the crisis has been exacerbated by years of an insensitive political and economic system that has not prioritised the welfare of working people and their families. Where laws to protect workers exist, their enforcement is weak, and workers are at the mercy of powerful employers who find ways around the rules. The government must do more to protect workers who are, after all, the backbone of the economy.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2023