June 25, In order to build the capacity of Legislators and key Civil Society Groups to promote the implementation of labour legislation and enforcement of internationally recognize labour standards, PILDAT has prepared a comparative matrix of the Political Parties� Position on Labour Issues in 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2013 Election Manifestos.

It is an attempt by PILDAT to highlight, for the benefit of the labours in the country that how each of the political parties plans to address key issues confronting Pakistani labour force today.

The Labour sector in Pakistan is beset with gigantic challenges. Structural flaws in the social, political and economic systems of the country continue to exclude a large majority of workers from attaining their fundamental rights through a host of barriers. It is in this backdrop that PILDAT, as a part of its efforts to promote and protect the rights of workers as well as to contribute to a more informed debate on the position taken by the major political parties in the country on labour issues in their Election Manifestos of 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2013, has prepared this comparative matrix.

The matrix, which is an update of a similar document produced by PILDAT in 2008, presents a succinct comparison of the positions related to labour issues in the Election Manifestos of 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2013 of the six (6) political parties - the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians-PPPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-PML-N, Pakistan Muslim League-PML, Muttahidda Qaumi Movement-MQM, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-PTI and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazul Rehman-JUI-F.

PILDAT hopes that this study outlining the key areas of support by each of the six (6) political parties on labour related issues will help to facilitate workers in general and their organisations in particular in better understanding the position of Political parties and to work for the adaptation of more worker-friendly manifestos by the political parties in the future.

The Comparative Matrix is produced by PILDAT with the support of Solidarity Center-Pakistan Office under the project titled "Capacity Building of Legislators on Labour Issues".

The matrix in both Urdu and English languages can be accessed at
http://www.pildat.org/publications/publication/LabourIssue/
ElectionManifestoesandLabourIssuesJune2013_English.pdf
[English PDF]

http://www.pildat.org/publications/publication/LabourIssue/
ElectionManifestoesandLabourIssuesJune2013_Urdu.pdf
[Urdu PDF]