Labour Day: Four railway workers doing the work of 25

Railway employees hold rally on Friday, demand federal minister to hire more workers

KARACHI: The next time you complain about delayed trains in Pakistan, think about the railways, which are short-staffed. In fact, four employees are doing the duty of 25 and sometimes without water and electricity, pointed out their representative Manzoor Mala.

Mala, the Karachi division chairperson of Railway Mehnatkash Union, was speaking on Friday at a rally led by the railway workers to mark International Labour Day. He warned the federal railways minister, Saad Rafique, to increase the number of workers otherwise they will all go on strike.

The labour community needs to become united as that is the only solution to their problems, said Amjad Ali, the Karachi division general secretary of the Railway Workers Union.

The Sindh chairperson of Railway Mehnatkash Union, Ghulam Ali Bhat explained why their flags were red in colour. "It is due to the blood that labourers throughout the world have shed," he reasoned. No labour movement can achieve success until there is some bloodshed, he added.

These hard workers never get their rights — not even when they ask for them, said the central general secretary of Railway Workers Union, Muhammad Naseem Rao, urging the crowd to 'snatch' their due rights. Rao also asked the government why they were unable to feed their children even after working more than 18 hours a day.

The 18-hour work day without any break has not even translated into a wage increment, pointed out Railway Workers Union central chairperson Manzoor Ahmed Razi. Addressing the capitalists and the feudal, he said, "It is our era now and we will rule the country."

Razi accused the media of ignoring their plight. "Why do the media only focus on these corrupt politicians?" he pointed out. He accused former railway minster Ghulam Ahmed Bilour of completely destroying the Railways organisation. "Now the Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz government wants to privatise this national heritage," he said. "We won't let that happen."

Meanwhile, a middle-aged man, Tasmeen Hussain, who is a pilot master at Pakistan Railways, entered the rally in a procession. He had horns on his head and a garland of roti around his neck. "Our condition now is worse than animals," he told The Express Tribune. "We work in the scorching sun but we are not given water to drink, forget about electricity." He added that the houses that the government had provided were now in shambles.

It is cruel that railway workers are forced to work on the tracks with no light at night. "Two of my colleagues have been crushed to death in an accident with a train," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2015.