Labour leaders vow to defeat bids to divide on racial and linguistic lines
KARACHI: Workers will defeat the conspiracy to divide them on the basis of race and language, as well as the lawlessness prevailing in factories, through the power of their unity.
This resolution was expressed by labour leaders at the Labour Conference organized by the National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF) at the Karachi Export Processing Zone, Landhi. The conference was presided over by NTUF Sindh’s President, Comrade Gul Rahman.
Thousands of workers from various industries, along with a large number of women affiliated with the Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF), also participated.
NTUF General Secretary Nasir Mansoor said in his address that from Khyber to Karachi, workplaces had turned into slaughterhouses. The greed for profit had pushed the working class into unbearable conditions. Instead of addressing real issues, the ruling classes had planned to entangle people in unnecessary controversies.
One example, he said, was the attack on the unity of Sindh and the dangerous plan to divide working people on linguistic lines — a plan that workers, peasants, and oppressed communities would defeat through the power of unity.
Speaking about the situation in factories and workplaces, he said that even in the 21st century, workers were deprived of basic rights such as union formation, written appointment letters, payment of officially notified minimum wages, social protection and pensions.
The illegal contract labour system imposed on them had turned them into modern-day slaves, while institutions responsible for protecting workers’ rights had completely failed. These institutions and their officials, he said, had become tools of the capitalists.
Veteran labour leader Habibuddin Junaidi said that every passing day was increasing the difficulties of workers. The capitalist model of development had given nothing but poverty, helplessness and unemployment. Punjab was being showcased as a model of development, but the tragic Faisalabad incident had proven that this so-called model had brought only death and destruction to workers. Without a safe working environment, better wages and socio-economic justice, he stressed, development was impossible.
Saira Feroz, President of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation Pakistan (HBWWF), said that lawlessness dominated industrial units, especially textile and garment factories producing for international fashion brands.
The unending greed for profit had blinded international brands and their local suppliers. This was why national and international labour laws, GSP Plus, Global Framework Agreements, the Pakistan Accord and bilateral protocols had failed to ensure justice for workers in factories and workplaces.
NTUF Sindh General Secretary and SITE Labour Forum leader Riaz Abbasi said that a conspiracy was underway in Pakistan and across South Asia to strip away the hard-earned rights of 700 million workers — rights won over 150 years of workers’ struggle — under the guise of a new labour code. This conspiracy, he said, would be strongly resisted.
The conference expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine and Venezuela, who were resisting Israeli Zionism and U.S. imperialist military aggression.
It was announced that a historic protest would be organized in mid-December in Karachi against anti-worker laws, the conspiracy to divide workers, and the attack on the unity of Sindh. Strong participation was expected from peasants, workers, political activists and conscious citizens.
Participants of the conference also expressed solidarity with the 26 November protest organized by Indian trade unions against the labour code.
Other speakers of the conference were Wasim Jamal of SEESI Officer Association, Hussain Badshah, General Secretary Dock Workers Union, Parveen Bano and Mahru of HBWWF, Himmat Ali Phalpoto, Rabail Abro of the textile and garment workers’ union, Aqra Kanwal of HBWWF, Iqbal Abro of Alternate, Owais Qureshi, Muhammad Akram, Bilawal Khan of Alternate, Advocate Ahsan Mahmood and others.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025