Press talk: PSP Workers Federation set up

Mustafa Kamal condemns treatment of workers in the country

KARACHI: The country's situation can be gauged by the conditions in which its labourers live and work in, said Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Mustafa Kamal during a press conference on Sunday at the party's headquarters.

Nine months after entering the mainstream political arena, the PSP has also ventured into labour politics by forming its own workers' federation, named the PSP Workers Federation, and choosing its leader from within the ranks of the party.

Tauqeer Ahmed, the man who has been seen with the PSP's top tier since the party's inception and an employee of the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution, was made its president, while Karachi Water and Sewerage Board's Waseem Ahmed and Port Qasim Authority's Kashif Hussain were appointed the federations' senior vice-presidents.

The first central cabinet of the PSP Workers Federation comprises 30 members from different government and semi-government institutions. The party said that under this federation, department-wise unions will be made.

Addressing the workers' federation members, Kamal said that capitalists had infringed on the rights of the workers, which is why the latter's condition was worsening day by day. He said that workers built different institutions in this country with their efforts, but the negligence and corruptness of rulers ruined them.

Talking about the plight of workers, the PSP head said that there was no system to ensure timely payment of salaries and pensions to the workers. People were committing suicide over these difficulties but the government paid no heed, he lamented.

He advised the members to refrain from using the party name for their personal gains and instead to work more diligently for the betterment of the whole workers' community from now on.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2016.