Protest: ‘Re-open power looms or we march on Lahore’

Unionists say they have been jobless for half a month now

FAISALABAD: Scores of members of the Power Loom Workers’ Union and the Labour Qaumi Movement (LQM) gathered in front of the DCO’s office on Tuesday and demanded that power looms, which have been closed for 15 days after workers refused to mop up oil and unload beams, be reopened without delay.

The workers staged a sit-in in front of the DCO’s office. They asked the district administration to set some rules and regulations on the issue. “We demand that factory owners hire separate staff to clean up oil in factories and load and unload beams,” Labour union leader Akhtar Hussain Baloch, in-charge of the Lakkar Mandi Sector, said. He said that power looms had been shut for 15 days and almost 50,000 workers had become jobless for half a month. “We told factory owners that they need to hire separate workers to clean up oil…instead of considering our demands, they shut down the looms.” The protesters demanded that the district administration take up the issue on their behalf. “If power looms are not re-opened in 24 hours, we will march on the provincial capital and protest in front of the chief minister’s house,” Baloch said.

The protesters shouted slogans against the power loom owners. They held up banners and blocked University Road for traffic. The City assistant commissioner visited the scene and spoke to the labour leaders. He assured them that he would take up the matter with higher authorities and seek an amicable solution.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2016.