Railways protest: ‘Up our wages a 100 per cent’

On the Pakistan Railway Employees’ Movement union’s call all railway staff in Faisalabad stopped work for the day.

FAISALABAD: Railway employees took out a protest rally on Thursday to demand a revision of pay scales. On the Pakistan Railway Employees’ Movement (PREM) union’s call all railway staff in Faisalabad stopped work for the day. Shakoor Ahmad, a Railways employee, said that prices of all daily-use items had risen by 200 per cent over the last two years, but wages at the railways have only been raised by 15 per cent.” Another protester Mohammad Siddique said that pay scales at railways had not been raised since 1985. “It is time for them to update the pay scales in accordance with the workers’ demands,” he said.  “We demand a 100 percent increase in salaries in the coming budget,” he said. The protesters also demanded a raise in technical allowances, scale upgrades, leave encashment and overtime wages. The next protest demonstration is scheduled for May 19 (on Saturday).

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2012.