KARACHI, April 23: Five employees of the Muslim Commercial Bank, in protest against the sacking of over 220 low-grade workers of the bank, went on a “hunger strike till death”.
Speaking at a Press conference at the Press Club on Tuesday, a representative of the workers, Saeed Ghani, said that the five workers were on a hunger strike outside the Club and with the each passing day five more workers would be joining their colleagues daily, till the acceptance of their demands.
He said that all the workers organizations of the bank had joined hands and formed the workers and officers action committee.
Committee convener, Mr Ghani, said that the workers had decided that if their demands were not accepted they would commit self-immolation on April 28, when President Pervaiz Musharraf would be addressing a rally in the city in connection with the referendum.
Pointing out that the bank’s profit in 1991 was around Rs210 million, it had swelled to over Rs4.5 billion last year, he said that on one hand this year the bank had given millions of rupees to its top management under bonus and recreational allowances, and on the other, poor workers were being sacked to save money. He alleged that the bank had given Rs2.5 million to the president; around Rs 1 million to each senior vice-president, over Rs0.4 million to each vice-president as bonus and recreation allowances.
