Karachi, May 2: The dominant thought among the ruling elite is that workers are charity seekers. Nearly all manifestos promise to raise wages, expand social security and facilitate employment generation but through privatisation. The state, it seems, aims to shun its responsibility towards labour welfare. On Labour Day, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) said this in a press statement on May 1. “Today, Pakistan’s workers battle an indifferent state, the might of a deregulated and unregulated market system and an unaccountable employer. This has been the result of the neoliberal policies pursued by the state since independence, and more fiercely, after entering the Structural Adjustment Agreement with the IMF in 1988,” it was said. The … [Read more...]

Karachi, April 29: After going through the election manifestos of all major political parties of the country, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) has declared that none of the parties has given adequate attention to labour issues and land reforms. The political parties have ignored workers and peasants while allocating party tickets for contesting polls. Only 28 election candidates belong to the working class and all the other candidates of political parties either come from the traditional landlord families or the business community. “Elections have become a domain of the elites with those from modest backgrounds unable to access the system,” read the statement issued from Piler. All political parties have tried to maintain the status quo and no one is … [Read more...]