Govt to do all for emancipation of working classes: President

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has stated that the government will do everything possible for the emancipation of the working classes and to ensure dignity, honour and decent living to them.

"The PPP has traditionally derived its strength from the labour, the peasants and the daily wage earners and it is determined to free them from exploitation", the President said in his message on the occasion of Labour Day, observed every year on May 1.

"May Day today reminds us of the promises made to the workers to improve their lot and bring to an end their exploitation and also review the progress made thus far", he added.

The President also recounted the steps taken by the present government to address the issues of working classes in the last three years, adding, "a host of measures have been taken but three stand out as major steps for labour welfare during the last three years."

"These include the restoration in service of the sacked employees through legislation, the restoration of the trade union activities and the introduction of the Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme offering 12% stock shares to workers in state run enterprises", he added.

President Zardari said the Benazir Stock Option Scheme has not only benefitted 500,000 families of workers and labour but also, for the first time, enabled workers partake in the national productive process.

"The workers have been assured job security as they could no longer be sacked without assigning any reason. These measures have enhanced the dignity of the labor", he added.

The President said a dissatisfied work force causes decline in low productivity and also contributes to industrial unrest, adding, "It is, therefore, also in national interest to improve the lot of the working classes and protect them from exploitation."

The President also paid tributes to the Chicago martyrs for their struggle against oppressive socio-economic system a century ago, saying that "in laying down their lives they lit the path for generations of workers to come."