Karachi: The Pakistan People’s Party fully believe in the struggle being carried out for the welfare and well-being of the labourers and soon this revolutionary movement will succeed.
This was stated by Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister, Saeed Ghani, in his message issued on Sunday on the eve of the May 1 International Workers’ Day.
Ghani, who is also PPP Karachi Division President, mentioned that former prime ministers Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto during their regimes had taken several historical steps for the welfare of the labourers.
He mentioned that up to 90 per cent of the institutions and agencies established in the country for securing the rights and privileges of the labourers in Pakistan were all established during the past regimes of the PPP.
He said the historical step to make labourers shareholders in the industries had been taken during the tenure of former president Asif Ali Zardari. He said the labourers after securing a 12 per cent shareholding had got the opportunity to take part in the policy and administrative affairs of their industrial establishments. Ghani mentioned that such an arrangement was not even available in the developed parts of the world.
He said the Sindh government of the Pakistan People’s Party after the 18th Constitutional Amendment had started a reform process to improve the labour-related laws.
He said that new laws had been adopted to safeguard the rights of the home-based workers and to ensure the occupational health and safety of the workers. He said that no such laws had been adopted by any other South Asian country.
Ghani said the Sindh government had amended laws to decrease its representation by 20 per cent on the governing bodies of the pro-labour welfare agencies in the public sector so to increase the representation of the workers on these boards.
Ghani said that it was the PPP’s Sindh government, which for the first time had given rights to the workers of the farm sector to form trade unions. Similarly, the trade union act has been amended to give proportionate representation to female labour leaders.
He said the Sindh government had been acting fast to achieve the concept of universalisation of the system of social security while the process had been started to issue Benazir Mazdoor Cards under the aegis of the Sindh Social Security Institution. He said the PPP had also introduced the concept of a tripartite conference having the representation of the government, labourers, and employers for securing the rights of the labourers.
The Sindh Labour Minister reiterated his resolve to continue taking steps for the welfare and well-being of the labourers under the leadership of the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
