KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday said that May 1 was the day of workers who snatched their rights through an organised struggle and sacrifice.
“This is your success that May 1 is observed as Labour Day all over the world,” he said while addressing a ceremony for distribution of cheques among industrial workers’ families of the Worker Welfare Board of the Labour Department at the Banquet Hall of CM’s House. The ceremony was organised to commemorate May Day. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, provincial ministers and others attended the programme.
Addressing the gathering, Bilawal said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the first leader of Pakistan who declared May 1 as a public holiday and founded the Employees Old Age Benefit (EOBI) to protect workers’ rights. He added that ZA Bhutto took over when there was martial law and the 22 richest families were at the helm of affairs. “It is the legacy of the PPP to protect and promote workers’ rights through legislation, restoring them in jobs and taking concrete steps to provide healthcare, education and shelter to the industrial workers.”
During the last PPP government, President Zardari had decided to give 12 percent shares to workers in all public sector industrial units, but the successive government of Nawaz Sharif did not implement it, he said.
He urged the Sindh government to make the EOBI, WWB and SESSI rules more worker-friendly. He urged the chief minister to work out a comprehensive labour policy in which all those working in different sectors could be protected.
The PPP chief also urged the chief minister to seek help of the Sindh High Court to make the labour courts more effective. “There is a dire need to abolish contract system and provide job security to poor workers.”
Addressing the ceremony, Murad Ali Shah said, “We all have gathered here to pay rich tribute to the struggle of labours. Your contribution to the national infrastructure and success of industrial units is unforgettable.”
“You have constructed various national assets with your own hands and this is our pride,” he said.
He said that in the light of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, his government in the province had passed 13 different laws under which rights of workers had been protected further. “We have allocated Rs 1 billion for the welfare of and compensation to workers and their families, and toady we are distributing Rs 500 million, including Rs 160 million for dowry and Rs 290 million for compensation, and rest for medical treatment.”
The CM said that ZA Bhutto was the first prime minister of Pakistan who enacted laws for labourers and ensured medical and educational cover to their families. He also secured their retirement by giving them gratuity, he said, adding that the former premier fixed the retirement age of 55 years for male workers and 50 year for female workers.
“In his first speech as president of Pakistan on national radio, he addressed workers as ‘strength of the country’.”
He said that ZA Bhutto founded the EOBI, Workers Welfare Fund, Workers’ Participation Fund, labour courts and other organisations under which the rights of workers and their families were secured. “I have inherited the legacy to serve the workers, peasants and industrial labourers from my party leadership. I vow to fulfil the commitment of Shaheed Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.”
The chief minister presented a memento of Labour Day to the PPP chairman at the conclusion of the ceremony. Earlier, the PPP chairman distributed some of the compensation cheques among the widows of workers. Labour Secretary Saeed Aawan announced that the amount had already been transferred to the accounts of the widows, and it was just a formality under which they were being given deposit slips.
