KARACHI, March 22: The Karachi Shipyard Mazdoor Union on Thursday warned that if its demands were not met by March 26, the workers would go on strike on March 28.

Speaking at a press conference, the union chief, Mohammad Iqbal, said the management had been using delaying tactics for about two years but still had not accepted their demands.

He said the union was elected the CBA on May 11, 2000 and on June 9, 2000 a charter of demands was submitted but the management neither accepted it nor called the union for negotiations.

Iqbal said a letter had been written to the Sindh Labour Department informing it about the situation and the planned strike. Earlier, the labour department nominated an arbitrator who had so far arranged over 40 meetings between the union and the management, but without any result.

He said the management had wasted nearly two years and during that time the workers, facing great hardships due to inflation, had kept quiet in the interest of the organization. But now the situation was getting out of control and if the demands of the union were not accepted by March 26, the workers would be forced to go on strike from March 28.

He urged the authorities to direct the management to accept the genuine demands of the workers by March 26 so that the workers were not forced to take the extreme step.