Unity is strength: Trade unions agree to work together for a common cause

Representatives agree to form a committee with members from all provinces.

KARACHI: Representatives of trade unions from across the country have pledged to unite for their common aims of ensuring rights for the labour force. "If journalists, lawyers and judges can unite for their cause, why can't we?" questioned the secretary-general of Watan Dost Mazdoor Federation, Aziz Abbassi.

"We should unite for our cause. According to the 18th amendment, all four provinces have the right to frame new laws," he said. "Why is the federal government imposing their laws on us?" he asked.

He was speaking on the second day of a conference, titled Global Trade and Labour Compliance: South Asian Perspective', organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler), in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) at the Regent Plaza on Monday.

During the discourse, the representatives of various trade unions agreed to set up a national labour coordination committee, comprising representatives of each of the participating organisations.

All Pakistan Federation of Labour’s Sultan Ahmed Khan was of the view that the heads of labour organisations from each province should be included in policy-making. Malik Asif, the secretary-general of Labour Qaumi Movement, Faisalabad, disagreed. "We don't simply want to register another committee," he said. "What we need is a committee that would unite all the trade unions and work for them."

The conference brought together 75 trade union's representatives from the four provinces to discuss the issues of the labour force. All the participants agreed on the agenda of forming a national labour committee.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2014.