Job [in]security: FESCO employees protest privatization

FAISALABAD: Hundreds of employees of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration the proposed privatisation of the FESCO. The protesters were carrying placards and the banners bearing messages against privatisation. They also chanted slogans against the government, saying any attempts to privatise the company would not be accepted. They took out a rally which - included a number of FESCO vehicles – from the main FESCO office at Canal Road to the secretariat of the city district government. Pakistan Hydro Employees Union (PHEU) also joined the protest. Addressing the protesters, PHEU chairman Rana Ghulam Jaffar said FESCO was the only distribution company which was profit-oriented and had the least losses. He said FESCO employees should not allow privatisation and urged them to protest until their demands were met. “If the government has decided to change the lives of hundreds of workers without taking their input, they have a right to protest,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2014.