Naseebullah Khan
The history of unions or organizations in factories, or government departments and institutions is not a new phenomenon. These representatives have always been obstacles against the tyrant policies of the trade organizations as well as the state departments. Public and private sectors unionism has played pertinent role for the protection pf the rights of the working class throughout the world. In 1800s, workers in the UK stood up against the tyranny of the have class for armoring the due rights of the workers. In Costa Rica in the late 1800s, trade unions first appeared while Labour unions in USA appeared in 1889 which took a cemented shape by the mid-1930s in 1950s, and then in 1960s. In the Indian Subcontinent the wage-earning class that emerged owing to the introduction of Railways and agriculture plantation__ was the beginning of the trade union movement. Historically, in the Subcontinent, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was one of the pioneers of the protection of workers rights. He was an elected President of the All India Postal Staff Union in 1925 that had a membership of 70,000 workers. Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah played leading role in the enactment of the Trade Union Act, 1926, and Trade Dispute Act, 1929 which provided legal cover to the formation of unions. It must be in consideration that he had also attended the founding session of the All India Trade Union Congress in October 1920. Examining the protection of the working class, in 1919, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was formed that greatly in?uenced the growth and development of trade union movement throughout the globe. When we shed light upon the unanism of the working and salaried class in Pakistan it reveals that many trade unions and departmental organizations such as Pakistan,s workers confederation, Pakistan workees federation, Pakistan labor foundation, Railway,s workers Union, etc. have been working in Pakistan. As for as Balochistan is concerned the Balochistan Employees and Workers Grand Allience (BEWGA) is comprised of more than 50 organizations and unions from education, agriculture, civil secretariat, lecturer association, forest, labor, health, and other departments that represent around 2 lac 18 thousand employees of the province__ that has reverberated the voice for the rights of the employees time and again. The struggle of the BEWGA has been for the preservance of employees rights within the ambit of the constitution for which the leadership and the workers time and again beared the brutality of the law enforcement agencies. Tear gas was fired on them. They were beaten and put them behind the bars shamelessly by the provincial authorities and the recent episode of caesarism in May 2021 was the example as how the employees were dragged, beaten, and bloodied. The demands of the BEWGA have been an increase of 25 percent allownce as it was increased by the federal government as well as the other provinces. Moreover, the BEWGA demanded the removal of ban on unions, the permanancy of employees working on contract basis for years, echoed voice against the IMF dictating policies against the salaried class, demanded the Quota for the family members of retired and died employees, increase in M.Phil and phd allownce as per announced by the federal and other provincial governments, the upgradation of teaching, technical and non technical staff, the renewal of time scale, etc. The BEWGA leadership played a leading role for these demands on provincial level including in the hounourable high court of the province. Owing to the struggle of the BEWGA, many of its demands have beared fruits. For me, apart from echoing the voice for the middle and salaried working class___ the most important aspect is the unity and harmony among all the nations that the BEWGA has brought. Balochistan is a heterogeneous province where the Baloch, the Pahtun, the Hazaras, and the Urdu speaking are living. What the BEWGA did was that it provided a platform for their unification. It has provided a stage and has formed a committee comprised of the representatives of all nations including, Marxists, religions people, nationalists, and progressives. They all were at one stage for one common goal__ to protect the rights of the employees. The most important aspect was that all were fighting from one stage and one platform without any racial or school,s discrimination. Ups and downs, failure and success are the part of any movement, union or organization. What is important is that bringing social harmony among different nations along with different schools of thoughs and making them sit on one stage for a single aim___ to safeguard the rights of the working class is admirable. It is what we can have been witnessing in the struggle of the BEWGA.
