Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM ) organized a seminar on 'Labour Day: Revival of Treaty & Labour Movement' in Faisalabad, Pakistan

Faisalabad, Pakistan: May 07, 2010, (PCTV Newsdesk)

On 1st May 2010, AWAM (Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation) in collaboration with ASDP (Agency for Sustainable Development Pakistan), and WPP (Workers Party Pakistan) organized a seminar on the theme “Labour Day: Revival of Treaty & Labour Movement” to mark international labour day, at Quaid-e-Azam Hall, District Bar Association in Faisalabad. This seminar was joined by over 350 males and females including labourers, political workers, students, journalists and representatives of human rights organizations. The speakers included: Abid Hassan Mantoo (WPP), Naseem Anthony (Executive Secretary-AWAM), Amina Zaman (Director-ASDP), Shazia George (Coordinator-AWAM), Arif Ayaz (WPP), Mian Abdul Qayyum, Arshad Aziz, Asghar Shaheen, Abdur Rehman, Javed Sadiqui, Ali Sajjad Naqvi and Ashiq Chaudhry.

Abid Hassan Mantoo said, “It is imperative to curb the rule of landlords and industrialists for eliminating the exploitation of labour rights, therefore labourers working in different sectors should join hands to initiate struggle for the attainment of their rights, and for the change of system free of landlords and industrialists”.

Naseem Anthony said, “A large bulk of women working in informal sectors such as: domestic workers, home based workers and peasant workers, is exploited in the hands of owners for working in unorganized sector, because this kind of labour force is not considered as labourers according to the laws of country, consequently this non-recognized labour force becomes a victim of social and economic problems for not having any legislation”. “The irony is that Pakistan is reluctant to recognize workers working in informal sectors as labourers, despite the fact that progress and economy of any country depends upon labourers,” he added.

At the end of the seminar, all the participants unanimously passed a resolution and demanded that: government should ratify ILO C-177 and should ensure proper implementation of already ratified ILO C-100 for the protection of rights of working women engaged in informal sectors; proper implementation of labour laws must be ensured; IRA 2008 and other labour unfriendly laws should be repealed and new labour friendly policies & laws must be framed in accordance with the ILO conventions, privatization of railway and other state’s departments must be stopped, home-based workers and domestic workers should be recognized legally as part of the labour force and should be given equal share in trade unions; proper steps should be taken to ensure facilities for labourers such as: social security, pension, old age benefits, free medical, in all industrial units especially power looms factories and brick kiln.

Report by Shazia George