June 22, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 17, 1429

PESHAWAR, June 21: Employ-ees of various private security agencies have expressed their concern over the soaring prices of various daily use items and demanded of the high ups to increase their salaries against this background.

The workers in a joint statement here on Saturday said they were performing 12 hours duty but the salaries were so low that they could not meet their routine expenditures.

Some of them alleged that owners of the private companies were exploiting the workers by not paying full salaries to them. They said that they had no other source of income and could not feed their kids in the prevailing circumstances.

The employees said that the government had announced a 20 per cent raise in the salaries but the owners of the private security companies were not ready to increase salaries of the security guards and thus negate the government policy.

The workers demanded of the government to ensure payment of the 20 per cent raise to the security guards and remove the unrest among them.

They also asked for reduction of the duty hours from 12 to 8 otherwise they should be paid double overtime charges for the additional 4 hours.—Bureau Report