KARACHI: A group of labour unions on Thursday announced to launch Mazdoor Huqooq Tahreek (Labors’ Right Movement) aimed at bringing visible improvement in the lives of workers ahead of general elections of 2018.
The announcement was made by the representatives of National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), Home-based Women Workers Federation (BHWWF), Inqilabi Adarsh Front (IAF) and 60 other labour unions at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC).
The labour leaders said that it is heartening that yet another elected government in Pakistan has completed its full term and the preparations are afoot to hold the general elections, however, it is saddening that the ruling political parties both at the federal and provincial levels did not take any substantial steps to try to better the living conditions of the working class.
They said that despite the elections being around the corner, priorities of political parties on labour-related issues are still unclear. These political parties are demanding vote from the workers, but there seems to be nothing in their election manifestoes and programmes for the betterment of these workers.
They said presently, there is a labour force of more than 65million in the country, which makes almost 65 per cent of total number of the voters in Pakistan. In this backdrop, it is worth seeing how the political parties think and behave on the problems and issues related to workers, they argued.
Today when the country is facing a worsening economic crisis, the workers consider the coming general elections very important for them and think that they should present their point of view to the political parties, they maintained.
They said that they will unite to spread awareness in the localities and colonies of labours and later extend them to the other parts of the city. Further, they stated that they will compel the political parties and their candidates to chalk out their policies related to workers and include them in their election campaign for resolving the issues of labourers and working women and to safeguard their legal rights.
