Protest: Power loom workers demand raises

Hundreds of power loom workers staged a protest demonstration in front of the DCO’s office demanding wage raises.

FAISALABAD: Hundreds of power loom workers on Tuesday staged a protest demonstration in front of the DCO’s office demanding wage raises.  The protestors also staged a sit-in outside the city district government secretariat and blocked the University Road. Speaking on the occasion, Power Loom Workers’ Union District President Mian Nadeem Ahmad Bawa said labour laws were not being properly enforced in the country. “Many labourers do not get social security and EOBI cards despite government orders to provide all facilities to workers from all sectors.” He said the factory owners, in connivance with Labour Department officials, deprived workers of their rights. “They have forced us to take to the streets,” Bawa said. The protest ended when the DCO sent a representative to assure the protestors that their demands had been noted and workers would get their rights.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2013.