KARACHI: The Awami Workers Party (AWP) and the Pakistan Trade Union Federation (PTUF) organised countrywide demonstrations on Tuesday to protest against the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), the sacking of over 11,000 polio workers, the notification of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) management against contractual employees, and the decision to sort out the “overstaffed” Pakistan Railways.

One such protest was held outside the Karachi Press Club, in which the AWP, PTUF, PSM Trade Union Alliance, SSGC Insaf Jafakash Union, Railway Workers Union, Polio Workers Action Committee, Progressive Students Federation (PrSF) and various other trade unions and progressive organisations participated.

The participants raised slogans against the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, former and current governments, and “corrupt” managements. They condemned the recent firing on workers of a textile mill and declared that the government and state were slaves of the capitalists.

‘Now is the time for all workers to unite and wage a countrywide struggle against privatisation’

Addressing the protest, Akbar Narejo, the convener of the PSM Trade Union Alliance and president of the PSM’s Progressive Union, said that not only was the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government deceitful, it was also “murderous” towards the workers. “Before the elections, this party collected votes by putting up a pretence of opposition to privatisation, particularly that of the PSM, which is why the PTI’s union emerged victorious in the PSM referendum,” he said. “But Asad Umar, who until then was found saying that if the government privatises the institution, he would be found siding with the employees, can today be seen playing a major role in the process of privatisation,” he added.

Mohammad Ayaz, the president of the SSGC Insaf Jafakash Union, said the PTI government was like the monster who ate its own children. According to him, when his union approached the courts with the cases of contractual employees who had been working for 20 years for the company, the management resorted to sacking, demotions and transfers of the representatives of the Insaf Jafakash Union. “At every crucial turn, the government could be seen standing by the management’s side against its own union,” said Ayaz. “This has encouraged the management so much that today it is issuing notifications to change these contractual workers into outsourced employees,” he added.

Sahibzada Amjad Ali Khan, the deputy general secretary of Railway Workers Union, said that all institutions were being run as per the diktat of the IMF and World Bank and, under that scheme, Pakistan Railways was also headed in the direction of destruction and decay. “On the one hand, Imran Khan in his duty towards the capitalists ends the lockdown in the name of workers and puts the lives of thousands of people at risk,” he said. “On the other hand, we see how his government is

privatising the Steel Mills, sacking more than 11,000 polio workers, and preparing to fire the so-called excess employees in Railways. This hypocritical government is the killer of the people, particularly the working class, and is defending the interests of its foreign and local masters,” he added.

Israr Baloch, a PrSF leader, said that the government has allocated only one per cent of its Rs7.3 trillion “black” budget to education. “The health budget is even less than that while the defence budget has been increased by nearly 11 per cent,” he said.

PTUF’s well-known trade unionist Kaneez Fatima told participants that the PSM was not established by the “corrupt” rulers of Pakistan. “Instead, it was a gift to the workers of Pakistan from a workers’ state, the Soviet Union,” she said. “Today, this gift is being sold for peanuts to appease American imperialism. Now is the time for all workers to unite and wage a countrywide struggle against the privatisation of PSM and other institutions, against forcible sackings, against contractual employment system and against the anti-people budget,” she added.

Finally, AWP Karachi president Shafi Shaikh vowed that the AWP would unite the workers and peasants of the country to wage a struggle against the current system. “The attack on the PSM is not just an attack on one institution, it is an attack on each and every worker of Pakistan,” he said. “It won’t be incorrect to say that it is also an attack on the economic stability of Pakistan. It is unfortunate that the government, all these political parties and various institutions that don’t ever get tired of their patriotism rhetoric are actually selling the country for peanuts.” he added.

He demanded that the privatisation of the PSM be stopped immediately and the institution be given in the democratic control of the PSM workers. He further demanded that all polio workers be restored to their posts. According to him, all conspiracies against the contractual employees of the SSGC should be ended and these employees must be regularised and given permanent employment as well as the right to vote in referendums. Last but not the least, he demanded that the decision to fire the so-called excess workers in Pakistan Railways be reverted.

“The AWP, under the leadership of the working class, will continue its struggle against this rotten feudal and capitalist system that runs under the diktat of imperialism,” said Shaikh. “We will stand by the workers in every struggle.”

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2020