457 contract workers at the Parks & Horticulture Authority (PHA) of Lahore have been made permanent regular workers as a result of a long pressure campaign mounted by the PHA union. The negotiations that were concluded with the PHA will also result in the conversion of a further 300 contract workers into regular workers in the near future.
The PHA Union is affiliated to the Pakistan Federation of Building and Wood Workers (PFBWW), and the PHA Union is Senior Vice President of the PFBWW, an affiliate of the BWI.
“This union has shown immense bravery to take action, and their bravery has been rewarded”, said PFBWW General Secretary Aslam Adil. “Despite increasing political intimidation against human rights defenders in Pakistan, these workers have shown that fighting for your rights does lead to real improvement in workers’ lives.”
On 4 August workers held protests that disrupted traffic in central Lahore, and threatened further action involving thousands more workers if their demands – which also included salary increases and the provision of basic facilities – were not met. These protests were the basis for compelling the PHA to negotiate.