Taking a stand: ‘No to privatising public sector organisations’
Thousands of workers rally to protest against plans to privatise key public utilities.
The speakers urged the prime minister to pay special attention to public sector organisations. They said attempts to privatise utilities in Multan, Rawalpindi and Karachi had failed miserably. PHOTO: NNI
LAHORE:
Instead of privatising national public utilities on the behest of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the government must invest in them and improve their productivity, said a resolution passed at a rally led by the All Pakistan Workers Confederation on The Mall on Wednesday.
Thousands of workers from Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Mardan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sukkur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Faisalabad, Karachi and Hyderabad rallied in front of the Press Club. They carried banners and placards against the government’s plan to privatise the PIA, and electricity, rail, and oil and gas utilities. They said the move would be against public interest.
Workers of the All Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Workers Union, Railway Workers’ Union, National Bank of Pakistan Employees Union, Irrigation Workers Confederation, Bata Mazdoor League and several other industrial trade union workers, and the LESCO Engineering Association were present at the rally.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, All Pakistan Workers Confederation information secretary Osama Tariq said the rally sought not only to benefit employees of government organisations but the country as a whole. He said the institutions being privatised were public welfare institutions which should work to benefit people, not private corporations.
“When the Multan Electric Supply Company was privatised, the company only provided electricity connections to areas where there were more than 100 consumers,” he said. Similarly, after privatisation, the Karachi Electric Supply Company laid off more than 5,000 employees and several employees were hired on a contractual basis.
He said the confederation’s executive will meet in a few days and decide a plan of action if the federal government did not pay heed to their demands. Tariq said they would consider moving their protest to the parliament house in Islamabad.
The protesters urged political parties to adopt a plan of action to challenges of abject poverty, growing unemployment, growing extremism and ignorance and the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. They demanded action against child abuse and bonded labour and protection for women.
The government needs to put an end to feudal structures in the society, the protesters demanded. They also demanded work safety measures for WAPDA employees and steps to clamp down on power theft.
The protesters also condemned the murder of Rai Zayyad Ahmed, a LESCO SDO, resident of Ittehad Colony, and an attack on Assadullah Khan, also of LESCO. They demanded the culprits be arrested on priority. All Pakistan Workers Confederation general secretary Khurshid Ahmed, Engineering Association senior vice president Amjad Hussain Nagra, Engineering Association president Rubeena Jameel, additional general secretary Akbar Ali Khan and representatives of the All Pakistan Workers’ Confederation spoke at the occasion.
The speakers urged the prime minister to pay special attention to public sector organisations. They said attempts to privatise utilities in Multan, Rawalpindi and Karachi had failed miserably. The speakers urged the prime minister to hold a dialogue with trade unions on alternatives to privatising these sectors. The government should recover money stashed in Swiss banks, they said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2014.
Instead of privatising national public utilities on the behest of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the government must invest in them and improve their productivity, said a resolution passed at a rally led by the All Pakistan Workers Confederation on The Mall on Wednesday.
Thousands of workers from Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Mardan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sukkur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Faisalabad, Karachi and Hyderabad rallied in front of the Press Club. They carried banners and placards against the government’s plan to privatise the PIA, and electricity, rail, and oil and gas utilities. They said the move would be against public interest.
Workers of the All Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Workers Union, Railway Workers’ Union, National Bank of Pakistan Employees Union, Irrigation Workers Confederation, Bata Mazdoor League and several other industrial trade union workers, and the LESCO Engineering Association were present at the rally.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, All Pakistan Workers Confederation information secretary Osama Tariq said the rally sought not only to benefit employees of government organisations but the country as a whole. He said the institutions being privatised were public welfare institutions which should work to benefit people, not private corporations.
“When the Multan Electric Supply Company was privatised, the company only provided electricity connections to areas where there were more than 100 consumers,” he said. Similarly, after privatisation, the Karachi Electric Supply Company laid off more than 5,000 employees and several employees were hired on a contractual basis.
He said the confederation’s executive will meet in a few days and decide a plan of action if the federal government did not pay heed to their demands. Tariq said they would consider moving their protest to the parliament house in Islamabad.
The protesters urged political parties to adopt a plan of action to challenges of abject poverty, growing unemployment, growing extremism and ignorance and the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. They demanded action against child abuse and bonded labour and protection for women.
The government needs to put an end to feudal structures in the society, the protesters demanded. They also demanded work safety measures for WAPDA employees and steps to clamp down on power theft.
The protesters also condemned the murder of Rai Zayyad Ahmed, a LESCO SDO, resident of Ittehad Colony, and an attack on Assadullah Khan, also of LESCO. They demanded the culprits be arrested on priority. All Pakistan Workers Confederation general secretary Khurshid Ahmed, Engineering Association senior vice president Amjad Hussain Nagra, Engineering Association president Rubeena Jameel, additional general secretary Akbar Ali Khan and representatives of the All Pakistan Workers’ Confederation spoke at the occasion.
The speakers urged the prime minister to pay special attention to public sector organisations. They said attempts to privatise utilities in Multan, Rawalpindi and Karachi had failed miserably. The speakers urged the prime minister to hold a dialogue with trade unions on alternatives to privatising these sectors. The government should recover money stashed in Swiss banks, they said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2014.