A man looks at the wreckage of a burning ship a day after a gas cylinder explosion at the Gadani shipbreaking yard on November 2, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: Gadani ship-breaking workers called off their call for a strike on Saturday as their employers accepted their demands during a meeting convened hours before the protest demonstration.
The Ship-Breaking Workers Union Gadani (SBWUG) had announced a strike on Saturday due to unfilled promises of safety and rights made to the workers by the ship-breaking yard owners and authorities after last year's November tragedy.
On November 1, 2016, at least 26 people were killed and several were wounded after a decommissioned oil tanker, MT Aces, caught fire during its dismantling. The fire ripped off the ship and remained in place for around three to four days.
Gadani’s ship-breaking workers threaten to go on strike
On Friday, the ship-breakers association representatives convened a meeting with the labour union and discussed their issues with them. SBWUG President Bashir Mehmoodani told The Express Tribune that the ship-breakers accepted all the demands of the workers and also increased their wages and salaries by 10%.
Mehmoodani had demanded a 50% increase in the workers’ wages and salaries, that every worker be registered with the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution and social security and that workers be given proper contracts and identification credentials. He also said their health and safety rights should be ensured and each yard should have a dispensary and ambulance service along with proper canteens. The union leader also said that work on legislating a ship-breaking code like those in India and Bangladesh should be started immediately.
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