Pakistan

Faisalabad powerlooms remain shut, workers on strike

More than a 100,000 powerlooms in Faisalabad remained shut for a fifth consecutive day.

Express July 24, 2010

FAISALABAD: Amid tensions over wage increments, more than a 100,000 powerlooms in Faisalabad remained shut for a fifth consecutive day. The contention over increments took a violent turn when protesting labourers attacked powerloom factories.

During the last four days, district administration has held eight meetings with industrial workers and factory owners to placate the situation, but efforts have proved futile.

Labour Qaumi Movement’s Secretary, Aslam Miraj, clarified that workers will not resume their jobs till wage increments are formally implemented. Factory workers also announced the launch of protests and rallies in all industrial areas of Faisalabad.

Factory owners refused to accept worker demands and have condemned the attacks on factories.

COMMENTS (1)

HAMID SULTAN DAWOODI | 13 years ago | Reply A FACE OF POWER LOOM INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN =========================================== During 1974 soon after my post graduation in Economics I started my carrier with a small loom factory and remained in this industry lasting four years and left it due to: (a) Dishonesty in weaving to say yarn was being saved to cheat customers and to this work market call it “ mispick” product. (b) use of starch in sizing just to show high weight of cloth (c) use of water during weaving to over weight the cloth for buyer during sale ( d) purchase of cloth on due payment transaction. Power Loom Owners are the richest class those are working under trade tactics as mentioned above. These people declared billion of rupees black money during past tax immensity schemes and own beautiful bungalows in posh areas of city. Power loom worker is the most victimized person in our labor norms who work on production base labor rate having no monthly faxed salary, no social security, no old age benefit, no medical, no funds for education, no health facility, power loom worker is bound to work day and night, and have to calculate weaved yardage of cloth and get money. Although we are Muslims but absolutely we have no social face under Islamic Values. In Faisalabad Ghulam Muhammad Abad is an area where richest class of power loom owners live, and adjacent to it there’s big grave yard, I often say to my students, see the owners living in bungalows and look upon their workers those died unrest and sleeping in graves. We have so many feudal in our economy, agricultural feudal, and industrial feudal and these classes are totally missing the higher values of HAQOOQ UL IBAD. May Almghty Allah encourage us to behave with our labor class well.

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