The Labour Education Foundation organized a rally at Simla Hills intersection close the Lahore Press Club here on Wednesday to mark the International Labour Day.
Workers from various garments factories, brick kilns, PTCL, as well as home-based joined the rally.
The rally led by Labour Education Foundation Director Khalid Mahmood, Punjab Textile Power-loom Garments Workers Union General Secretary Niaz Khan, PTCL workers’ union leader Rana Hassan advocate and others, started from Simla Hills intersection and culminated at Charing Cross on The Mall after marching through Egerton Road.
The participants were raising slogans not only to demand better wages but also trade union rights in the textile and other sectors, registration of workers with Social Security and Employees Old Benefit Institution so that they may get employment benefits like free health and education facilities as well as pension on retirement.
Speaking to the participants, Mr Mahmood regretted that workers in most of the sectors were not being paid even the minimum wage of PKR32,000 per month announced for non-skilled workers. He demanded that the workers should be paid PKR75,000 per month as the current wage is too low to live a decent life.
He also demanded that the labour authorities should ensure implementation of environmental health and safety standards in all the industrial sectors, particularly garments sector
He pointed out that women workers were facing harassment both in public and private sector institutions as those responsible for eliminating this ugly practice were looking the other way. Rather the victim of harassment is blamed for instigating the offender to harass her.
Academic Aysha Ahmed lamented that women have been objectified by the media and they are being considered as a merchandise instead of a human with rights equal to that of men.
She said that women workers are not being paid wages at par with their men colleagues despite doing equal work, both in qualitative and quantitative terms.
Mr Khan called for implementing labour laws and regularizing the jobs of daily wagers and contract workers both in public and private sectors. He also demanded trade union rights in all industrial and commercial institutions, eliminating child labour from brick kiln industry and ensuring payments to workers of the industry as per law, and implementing minimum wage law in the garment factories.
Jalvat Ali demanded that implementation of the law regulating home-based workers and ensuring a written contract between the workers and the middlemen.
Muhammad Adil, a participant of the rally, lamented that the ruling elite has forced workers of every sector to come on road if they desired to get even their basic rights, guaranteed in the Constitution.
