Since 1996 I have worked for the Labour Education Foundation (LEF). Our work is focussed on the objectives of building a democratic labour movement in Pakistan. In my current role, I work with trade unions, factory workers, informal sector workers’ groups, labour rights organisations, women rights organisations, child rights organisations, gender equality activists, national, regional and global networks on the rights of people and Global Union Federations to take the voice and struggle of workers into the development of collective actions at national, regional and 2international level with the aim of reducing inequality and achieving long term positive change in the lives of workers. In developing and up keeping programmes, I am regularly at the forefront of the following processes:

• Research, designing programmes, making grant application, reporting and gaining executive board’s approval in initiating and securing projects;
• Implementing, managing and monitoring projects;
• Ensuring democratic processes are transparent and up-to-date in the LEF as well as organisations that have stemmed from LEF programmes. This includes in particular, initiatives to tackle the under-representation of women and informal workers in democratic roles;
• Providing and delivering educational and capacity building opportunities for workers in organised and un-organised environments;
• Representing LEF in global conferences and seminars in order to take and bring back learning to improve long term change to improved conditions for workers;
• Planning campaigns to organise workers and to promote rights of workers;
• Developing and monitoring policies based on well-researched data and collective evidence that helps to improve the overall progression and wellbeing of working class.

Through my work with affiliated trade unions in Pakistan and through national, regional, and international education programmes I work closely with national and global organisations. I am engaged in monitoring international policy developments and its effects at national level by participating in different networks at regional and global level such as South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), Asia Europe Peoples’ Forum, Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV) and Clean Cloth Campaign (CCC). I have been a member of the executive committee of International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA) from 2008 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023. through which I built strong relationships with a variety of labour movement organisations and contributed towards global labour education programmes.

Asia has become factory of the world as most of the production of consumer items is happening in Asian continent. As a labour educator and activist, I want to play my role in bringing labour organisations and trade unions of Asia to work together for securing rights of labourers. This cannot be done without engaging with other labour educators in global south and in developed countries in global north. I want to serve as member Executive Committee of IFWEA to play a role that can bring together many other organisations in Asia close to IFWEA and make this organisation’s presence in Asia more visible.

Workers education agenda also needs to cater the demands of labour in global supply chain. I will bring my experience of working directly with workers in global supply chain into IFWEA and will work together with other affiliates to look into ways of developing education tools which can bring more knowledge and courage to workers at ground level in global supply chain. Labour educators, academics, researchers and activists on the ground need to work together so that the challenges faced by workers’ movement globally can be faced in a better way.