Kiln workers want minimum wage enforced

Say the district govt has failed to enforce minimum wage notification.

FAISALABAD: Scores of brick kiln workers and Labour Qaumi Movement (LQM) activists on Saturday staged a protest demonstration, demanding wage raises as notified by the government.

The protesters gathered in front of Kamalia Press Club in Toba Tek Singh where they staged a sit-in.

They also blocked Kamalia Road for traffic and chanted slogans against their employers and the government.

Addressing the protesters, Labour Qaumi Movement (LQM) chairman Abdul Lateef Ansari said the government had fixed minimum wage for kiln workers at Rs888 per 100 bricks.

He said a notification in this regard had been issued.

He said it was unfortunate, that kiln workers were not being paid the wages at most kilns.

“We complained about the situation to the Labour Department and the district government but no action was taken,” he said.

He said kiln workers had been demanding the enforcement of the minimum wage set by the district government for 10 months.

“No one from the government has taken notice of our grievances,” he said.

He said a number of meetings had been held with the DCO, the CPO and the commissioner but kiln workers had been sent away with assurances that the matter would be resolved soon. He said kiln workers would protest in front of the office of the labour secretary if they were not paid the legal wages by June 1.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2015.