Sanitary workers refuse to end strike across Sindh

All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation demand action, not promises to pay online salaries

KARACHI:

On the call of All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation (APLGWF) Sindh, the local government employees across the province from Karachi to Kamoon Shaheed on the Sindh-Punjab border locked their offices and staged sit-ins for payment of their salaries through the treasury. The strike has set a new record of solidarity of workers in Sindh.

The sanitary services are already deplorable in the city and the province, however, the strike of sanitation staff of the local government department left garbage collection operations suspended for the second consecutive day across Sindh.

To make things worse, no staff was available to open clogged sewers across the province.
The lowest grade employees have stood in solidarity for one demand - payment of salaries through treasury in their accounts. They have demanded an end to the highhandedness of senior officers who usurp part of their salaries.

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The Sindh government's negotiating team including Secretary Local Government Najam Ahmad Shah, Secretary Local Government Board Zameer Ahmed Abbasi, Special Secretary Zubair Siddiqui, Project Director Competitive and Livable City of Karachi (CLICK) and Metropolitan Commissioner KMC Afzal Zaidi, MD of Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Zubair Ahmed Channa held three-hour-long negotiations with APLGWF Sindh and Shah Latif Local Government Employees Union Sindh leaders Syed Zulfiqar Shah, Hafiz Mushtaq Ahmed Korejo, Muhammad Akram Rajput, Ali Mardan Sheikh, Abdul Hadi Markiani, Captain Shabir Jadoon, Municipal Workers Trade Union Alliance leaders Qasim Shah, Illyas Jadoon, Muhammad Ali Malik, Shah Rukh Rizwan, Abbas Ahmed and Nasir Khan.

Following the refusal of the Finance Department to pay salaries to local government employees from the online treasury, a detailed discussion was held on a phased program to computerize the record under the World Bank project and link it with the Accountant General Sindh after which notifications were issued.

But due to reservations over the notification, it was decided that no solution other than payment of salaries through the treasury was acceptable.

Meanwhile, Provincial Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah telephoned and assured the leadership of the federation that he would come to Karachi in two days and hold talks with Sindh

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Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to ensure payment of salaries from the treasury. The federation’s leadership, however, decided to continue the strike after detailed discussions with the leadership of Shah Latif Local Government Employees Union.

Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day, all local body employees in the KMC’s seven district municipal corporations, three municipal corporations across Sindh, 37 municipal committees, 151 town committees, 25 district councils, and union councils across Sindh went on strike by holding a sit-in at the headquarters of their respective institutions for their right.

On the occasion, the leaders said that they were constantly trying to ensure that the salaries to the local government employees should be paid through the treasury just as the salaries of other provincial employees are paid due to lack of availability of OZT grant of local bodies there is a reduction in salaries which causes 35% of employees losing their salaries every month.