Suthra Punjab workers stage protest over withheld salaries

Labour leaders say employees unpaid for 56 days despite repeated assurances

FAISALABAD:

Hundreds of sanitation workers employed under the Suthra Punjab programme staged rallies and sit-ins across Faisalabad city, Dijkot and Tandlianwala on Monday in protest against non-payment of salaries for the last two months ahead of Eidul Azha.

The protesting workers raised slogans against the Suthra Punjab Authority and appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to intervene for the resolution of their demands.

They vowed to continue their protest until their salaries were paid.

Roads remained blocked at several points as workers, including sanitary staff, supervisors, rickshaw drivers and office employees, gathered in large numbers to protest what they described as anti-labour policies by the authorities and outsourcing companies.

Chairman of the Labour National Movement Baba Latif Ansari said sanitation workers had resorted to protests as a last option after repeated assurances failed to materialise.

He said workers in Faisalabad gathered at DG Ground while similar demonstrations were held in Tandlianwala, where around 1,100 employees are working under the Suthra Punjab initiative.

Ansari claimed workers had not received salaries for the past 56 days and alleged that ministers were being misinformed about the scale of the crisis.

He said officials had portrayed the issue as involving only a few workers, whereas thousands remained unpaid. He further alleged that sanitation workers had also been deprived of social security benefits, old-age benefits and vaccinations despite facing health risks while handling waste.

Muhammad Tayyab, a rickshaw driver from Tandlianwala, said the non-payment of salaries had forced workers onto the streets, adding that outsourcing companies had also failed to deposit social security contributions and old-age benefits.

The protesters announced they would continue demonstrations until their demands were accepted.

Meanwhile, Suthra Punjab Agency Managing Director Abid Hussain Bhatti claimed that all issues related to the workers had been resolved.