LAHORE (PR) - Veteran trade union leader and one of the founder leaders of the Trade Union Movement of Sub-Continent Indo-Pak, Late Bashir Ahmed Bakhtiar spent his whole life for defending and promoting the fundamental rights of the workers. That was reason that he was given Punjab Provincial Assembly Seat reserved for Labour in Pre-Independence days by the Father of the Nation.
These views were expressed in a National General Body Session of All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union CBA outside Bakhtiar Labour Hall, Lahore which was presided over Abdul Latif Nizamani and participated by thousands of union delegates and the thousands members of the trade union from all parts of the country including the representatives of All Pakistan Workers Confederation.
The session was addressed by veteran trade union leader Khurshid Ahmed, general secretary of the Union, who appealed to the working class of Pakistan to continue to strengthen their unity to establish an egalitarian society free from exploitation. The government had not entered into dialogue with the workers in conformity with ILO Conventions, he said. He demanded that the government should introduce economic far reaching reforms to provide cheap electricity to the citizens and end loadshedding.  At this occasion, the house by a resolution pointed that the present government had resorted to the privatization of the national public utilities. It was demanded to introduce administrative reforms to the power system to raise its efficiency instead of privatization.
The conference was also addressed by Justice (r) Tanveer Ahmed and IA Rehman, Secretary General Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Badar-ul- Munir Murtaza, Member (Power) WAPDA, Saeed Ahmed General Manager (HRM) PEPCO, Mrs Rubeena Jameel President and other speakers, who paid tribute to the dedicated services of Late Bashir Ahmed Bakhtiars and declared that no society could progress without recognizing and the implementing of the rights of the workers.
By another resolution, the house urged to Prime Minister to get recovered billions of dollars deposited by feudal lords and capitalists and some politicians in the Swiss banks and get imposed tax law upon the non-taxable elites instead of privatizing public utilities. The government was urged to introduce administrative reforms to raise PSEs productivity and place the policy of the proposed privatization before the National and Provincial Assemblies and Senate and hold dialogue with the accredited representatives of the union being essential stakeholders. In case, the government failed to do so, the workers would be compelled to start protest movement allover the country. The house also demanded the PM to get amended labour laws into conformity with lLO Conventions ratified by the federal government.