LG employees protest delay in salaries

PESHAWAR:

Local government employees of the City Metropolitan Peshawar on Wednesday took to the streets to protest against non-payment of salaries and pensions.

The employees blocked Bacha Khan Chowk and chanted slogans against the government. The protest, held at the busy Bacha Khan Chowk, included participation from female teachers of municipal inter-colleges.

Roads were closed to traffic from both sides due to the protest. On this occasion, the Metropolitan Employees Associations, including the Workers' Alliance and the United Municipal Workers Union, held separate protests.

Main participants included Worker's Alliance Chairman Qaiser Bacha, Patron-in-Chief Riaz Khan, President Shahid Mughal, General Secretary Fazal Mehmood, and Central and Provincial President of All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation, Malik Muhammad Naveed Awan.

Also in attendance were Bilal Ahmed, Chairman of the United WSSP Workers Union, Syed Waqar Ali Shah, General Secretary, and President Ismail Khan.

During the protest, leaders condemned the government for treating LG employees like stepchildren and demanded timely payment of salaries.

They stated that employees had not received monthly salaries or pensions despite the passage of 15 days.

Retired employees from the past six months have not been paid the pensions, commutation, death grants, or encashment dues. In cases where payments are made, heavy bribes were allegedly demanded – a practice employees described as shameful for the Capital Metropolitan Government Peshawar administration.

The protesters emphasised that the financial difficulties in the LG institutions would not be resolved until the outdated PLA account system was replaced with the AAA system.

They stated that employees from most of the province's local government institutions had been protesting for their salaries for three to four months, while the provincial government remained inactive.

The employees announced that protests and strikes would continue until full payment of salaries and pensions was made. During this period, all municipal services would remain suspended, and employees would hold daily protests at Bacha Khan Chowk.