International Labour Day 2025: A Reminder for the Better Care of Workers in Pakistan

Every year on May 1st, politicians in Pakistan make lofty speeches, companies post inspirational quotes, and labour unions hold rallies that barely scratch the surface of real change. International Labour Day, a symbol of hard-fought workers’ rights across the globe, has become a ceremonial event in Pakistan rather than a catalyst for progress. As we mark Labour Day in 2025, it’s time to confront the uncomfortable truth: we are failing our workers- systematically, repeatedly and shamefully.

More than a Holiday

Labour Day isn’t just a chance for a day off work or a parade of hollow promises. Its roots lie in blood and bravery, in the sacrifices of workers in Chicago in 1886, who dared to demand something as basic as an eight-hour workday. Their courage reshaped labuor laws around the world. In Pakistan, however, the spirit of this day is being smothered by apathy and indifference.

We love to declare ourselves a “labour-friendly” nation on paper, yet we tolerate an economic system that exploits the very hands that built it.

The Brutal Reality Behind the Labour Force

Take a hard look around: the majority of workers in Pakistan are overworked, underpaid, and barely protected. Whether it’s a child in a Lahore workshop polishing shoes or a woman in Karachi working 12 hours as a domestic servant with no legal rights, exploitation is the norm, not the exception.

Let’s talk numbers:

• Millions earn below the minimum wage, a wage that can’t sustain a small family amid runaway inflation.

• Workplace safety is a joke, with barely any inspections, zero accountability, and tragic accidents that fade quickly from the headlines.

• Women are chronically underpaid, sexually harassed, and pushed out of the workforce after marriage or motherhood, with almost no meaningful legal recourse.

• Labour unions are weak, often undermined by corporate pressure and government apathy, reduced to token protests that barely inconvenience the status quo.

And the informal sector? It’s free-for-all where workers have no contracts, no rights, and no future. They are invisible to the system, yet they carry it on their shoulders.

The Empty Promise of Reform

Every few years, we hear whispers of labour reform — new laws, better protections, digital registrations. But the truth is, reform without enforcement is just theater. What good is a law that says domestic workers must be paid fairly when no one is checking whether that law is followed? What use is a promise of “safe working conditions” when factory owners cut corners for profit, and regulators look the other way?

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Pakistan doesn’t need more policies. It needs political courage and moral clarity. It needs to stop treating workers like disposable tools and start treating them as human beings with dignity and rights.

What Needs to Change — Now

This Labour Day, instead of empty slogans, we need:

• Serious enforcement of minimum wage laws and workplace safety standards.

• Universal legal recognition and protection for informal sector workers, including domestic workers, construction labourers, and freelancers.

• Robust unionisation, with real legal backing and freedom from political interference.

• Equal pay for equal work, with real penalties for discrimination and harassment.

• Government accountability, not photo-ops.

Let’s be clear: a country that cannot take care of its workers has no moral claim to development or prosperity.

Labour Day 2025: A Wake-Up Call

The time for polite statements and ceremonial breakfasts is over. Labour Day 2025 should be a wake-up call to every employer, policymaker, and citizen: if we continue to treat workers as disposable, we are building a nation on exploitation, not on justice. Workers are not asking for favours; they are demanding their owed dignity, safety, fair wages, and a future.