Dock workers set up street-school outside KPC

Port Qasim workers demand their salaries be released

KARACHI: The Port Qasim dock workers' protest, against the non-payment of wages, outside the Karachi Press Club, entered its 55th day on Sunday. At the sit-in camp, where scores of protesters have been staying for the past almost two months, many claimed their children were extruded from their schools as they hadn't been able to pay their fees.

The protesting workers claimed that the Chinese Company, Huaneng Fuyun Port and Shipping Company hadn't pay their salaries for the last four months, due to which their children were expelled from their schools and their education was affected, adding that the government had paid no heed to their plight.



Workers Union of Port Qasim President Akhlaq Ahmed Khan said that he would not let the future of the children suffer and if their demands were not met, they would be forced to set up a Sunday school on the streets.

The agitated protesters set up a makeshift classroom at their camps on Sunday. The protesters' children said that they were eager to go back to school, but were unable to pay their fees as their parents hadn't received their salaries. The children demanded the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to resolve the issue.



The protesters put forward their demands which included that the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act 1974 should be enacted in Port Qasim like it is in the Karachi Port, identification cards of dock workers at Port Qasim Authority should be released, and delayed salaries should be paid. Moreover, the protesters also called for the quick resolution of all their issues, which they have presented in their charter of demands.

The protesters' children held placards, appealing the Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, CJP and the Chief of Army Staff to resolve their issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2018.