On the occasion of International Workers' Day, Pakistan reverberates with the echoes of solidarity with the international working class as we celebrate May Day 2024. In cities and towns across Pakistan, large rallies and parades mark the occasion.This annual celebration serves as a reminder of the hard-fought battles for labor rights and to honor workers’ struggles against the bosses for wage increases and on the job benefits enjoyed today, victories slowly being eroded.
Workers from various sectors, including factories, agriculture, construction, and services gathered to raise their voices for better working conditions, fair wages, and labor rights. Banners and placards carried slogans demanding justice, equality, and respect for the dignity of labor. Some people were also chanting slogans against the Israeli genocidal attacks on Gaza as well.
Comrades in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) brought workers and students to the rallies, explaining to them how we can get freedom from exploitation through communist revolution.
Workers’ power
We must rethink the old-fashioned lines towed by different leftist organizations because as the past shows, socialism carries the essence of capitalism, like wages. We explained that without a correct line we cannot get out of the clutches of barbaric fascist rulers.
We explained the current drive of the government of Pakistan to privatize all big public enterprises to the local and international bosses. Privatization has always led to job insecurity, decreased wages, and weakened labor rights. As state-owned enterprises are sold to private entities, companies often undergo restructuring to cut costs, leading to layoffs and downsizing. This is a clearly racist attack against Brown workers who make up the country’s majority.
Racist and Sexist attacks on workers
Our comrades explained that as now we have very limited labor rights ,and those rights will be eroded further under privatization. Private companies will certainly exploit loopholes in labor laws or engage in anti-union practices to suppress workers' rights to organize and negotiate for better working conditions. This lack of protection will surely leave workers more vulnerable to super-exploitation and abuse. These attacks show reforms can never be a substitute for revolution.
While analyzing the working class’s economic conditions, we described the tactics used by bosses to divide working-class people to keep intact this horrible, exploitative capitalist system. We stressed the need to fight for protection of workers' rights, and against the sexist disparity of wages based on gender. Daily-wage laborers in construction, agriculture and domestic workers in Pakistan face especially tough conditions under capitalism.These workers usually have no job security, they are least paid and do not have any benefits like health insurance or paid leave. They are used to working long hours in unsafe conditions just to meet some of their needs.
Fighting for a future without exploitation
Under capitalism, the focus is on making profits, so these workers are often treated as disposable resources rather than human beings with rights. The capitalist system prioritizes the interests of business owners and investors over the well-being of workers.
May Day in Pakistan is not just a day off work; it's a day of power, solidarity, and fightback. It honors the sacrifices of those who came before and inspires hope for a future where every worker is treated equally. Only an international communist revolution under the red banners of PLP can give workers the lives they deserve. Long live communism, long live PLP.
