ISLAMABAD, 2 May 2007 — May Day was marked across Pakistan yesterday with rallies and pledges from the government to provide better facilities to the workers.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a May Day ceremony in the capital the next national budget would propose an increase in the salaries of workers.
Meanwhile, thousands of laborers rallied across the country demanding better wages and living conditions.
President Pervez Musharraf in a statement vowed his government would reform labor laws governing the welfare of workers, with a special focus on increasing the participation of women.
Labor Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan led a rally on wheels in the capital in which hundreds of vehicles participated. He told the rally the government was planning to enact laws that would ensure better wages for workers.
Musharraf said his government would introduce schemes to accelerate investment and upgrade the vocational and technical competence of the work force.
According to government statistics, Pakistan has a labor work force of about 51 million people — of which 14 percent are women — with a minimum wage of 4,500 rupees ($75) per month. Rising inflation, estimated at eight percent, is widely seen as causing hardship for the working class despite impressive economic growth in the past four years that has ranged between seven and eight percent.
More than 4,000 workers staged a rally in the eastern city of Lahore, where leaders accused the government of failing to provide basic benefits for the working class.
“Millions of laborers in Pakistan are deprived of basic facilities including health and safety cover,” said Khursheed Ahmed, secretary general of the All Pakistan Workers Confederation.
In the southern port city of Karachi, the country’s commercial capital, labor leaders also criticized Musharraf’s regime for violating labor laws.
Deputy Attorney General Resigns
Deputy Attorney General of Pakistan Chaudhry Afriasiab resigned yesterday. In a statement sent to the Federal Ministry of Law he said it was not possible for him to discharge his duties when the judiciary was fighting for its survival. He is the second deputy attorney general to have resigned over the issue. Earlier, Deputy Attorney General Raja Muhammad Arshad had resigned saying he was not being provided with sufficient material and information in the case pertaining to the disappearance of people. Afriasiab’s resignation came a day ahead of the hearing of suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s case by the Supreme Court.
Container Service Launched
The US container service launched at Port Qasim near Karachi on Monday aims at boosting security and providing logistic support to the NATO/ISAF forces operating in Afghanistan. Other than Port Qasim, Gwadar and Karachi ports will be used occasionally.
The US will send its containers to Afghanistan through Quetta-Kandahar and Peshawar-Jalalabad routes.
Until now, the United States had contracts with Peshawar and Quetta-based truckers who used to carry goods.
