Over 500 workers of the Labour Qaumi Movement (LQM) and Bhatta Mazdoor Tehreek (BMT) on Saturday staged a protest demonstration over not being paid the minimum wage.
They gathered in front of the Labour Department offices and besieged it for several hours.
They chanted slogans against the apathy of the Labour Department officials.
LQM chairman Baba Abdul Lateef Ansari told newsmen that various private organisations had not been paying full wages to their workers as fixed by the government.
He said the government had fixed the minimum wage for brick kiln workers at Rs740 for 1,000 bricks in 2013 and Rs888 in 2014.
He said kiln owners had not being paying the new wags to kiln workers. He said most kiln owners were paying Rs500 for 1,000 bricks. When workers protested, they were fired or beaten up by their supervisors, he said.
He said workers had been facing the same problems in factories and mills.
“We complained to the Labour Department and asked them to take action against those refusing to make full payments to their workers,” Lateef added. A large police contingent headed by CPO’s representative Muhammad Arshad met with the workers and assured them that action would be taken against those who had been denying them their wages.
The workers then called off their protest and dispersed peacefully.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2014.
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