In protest: Sugar mill workers block National Highway

Protesters shouted slogans against the management for registering a case against them.

SUKKUR: Scores of workers belonging to a sugar mill in Ghotki staged a demonstration and sit-in at Ghotki Bypass on Saturday, following the registration of a case against workers by the mill's management.

Employees of the Jamal Din Wali (JDW) Unit-3 sugar mill, Ghotki, gathered at Ghotki Bypass on Saturday while shouting slogans against the management for harassing and registering a case against the workers. They carried placards and banners. Led by JDW Unit-3 workers' union president Ali Mardan Chachar and others, they staged a sit-in at Ghotki bypass which suspended the traffic between Sindh and Punjab for many hours.

Chachar condemned the anti-labour attitude of the sugar mill management. He said that workers have been deprived of their rights such as pay raise, allowances and promotions for long. Besides this, he added, the management is recruiting non-locals on wages higher than those paid to local workers.

The union's general secretary, Shoukat Ali Samejo, accused the management of trying to supress the voice of the workers by registering false cases against them. He said that on the one hand, the sugar mill management is exploiting the poor sugarcane growers, while on the other they are usurping the rights of the mill employees. "Our protest will continue until our demands are accepted," he said.

Earlier, the workers' union had staged a demonstration on Friday in favour of their demands. The management registered an FIR against 38 workers, including union office-bearers Chachar, Samejo, Khalid Sundrani and others over charges of ransacking the offices of the administration and causing damage to the furniture and fixtures.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Ali Mardan Chachar said that the sugar mill started operation in November 2007 and the workers employed since then have neither been granted pay raise nor have they been promoted. He said that most of the workers are getting Rs12,000 per month, while the non-locals are getting Rs16,000 to Rs18,000 per month.

"Instead of listening to our demands, the management has registered an FIR against 38 workers and office-bearers of the union, including myself," he said. "We are not afraid of the tactics of the sugar mill management and will continue our protest until our demands are accepted."

He further said that the Ghotki DSP and SHO came to them and assured them of withdrawing the case and taking up the matter with the sugar mill management. "On their assurance, we have ended the blockade," he said.

Despite repeated attempts, this correspondent could not contact the mill's administration general manager Colonel (retd) Khalid Suhail and security manager Major Muhammad Amin.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2015.