HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Development Authority Employees Union (CBA) has announced that it will disrupt sewerage and water supply system on Thursday in the first phase of its plan for a protest against the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned towards its demands, put forward to them recently.

The CBA had set the deadline of Sept 1for reinstatement of around 1,800 sacked employees, disbursement of pending salaries of many employees and acceptance of certain other demands.

Speaking at a meeting of the CBA here on Wednesday, its general secretary Abdul Qayyum Bhatti observed that since the provincial and HDA authorities had failed to respond to the union as yet, workers led by its office-bearers would start an agitation from the Latifabad Unit-9 pumping station on Thursday and keep it shut for two hours (11am to 1pm).

“If our demanded remained unmet for yet another day, we will go ahead with our plan to go on a full strike by closing down the entire system of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa),” he said.

He said the decision to observe a strike was taken after the authorities concerned did not pay any heed to HDA workers’ genuine issues despite several representations and reminders made to them over the last several months.

On July 1, he said, over 1,300 contractual and work-charge workers of Wasa and another 500 regular employees of HDA’s various units had been sacked. He said that more than 1,200 regular Wasa workers had not been paid their salaries since June. Besides, the sacked employees were not being paid their dues, he added.

Mr Bhatti said that the union had presented its charter of demands to Commissioner Qazi Shahid Pervez, who was also the HDA director general, and Wasa managing director Masood Jumani. The other demands pertained to appointment/regularisation of workers, implementation of son quota of deceased workers, pending pension cases, general provident fund, gratuity and allowances.On Wednesday morning, a large number of HDA workers held a protest demonstration at the Latifabad pumping station in favour of their demands.

Led by Mr Bhatti and the CBA’s senior vice president, Imtiaz Kolachi, the protesters raised slogans against the top HDA and Wasa authorities and appealed to the Sindh chief minister to pay attention to their grievances and help address them.

Most sacked workers to be reinstated: MD

Wasa managing director has, meanwhile, hinted at reinstatement of 60 per cent of sacked employees, admitting that they were efficient workers. A list of those to be reinstated soon was almost finalised, he told Dawn when contacted for his comment on the CBA’s demands.

Mr Jumani observed that the sacked employees whose reinstatement was under consideration had been continuing to undertake their jobs despite being relieved of their duties. He said he had already assured them that they would be taken back.

He said that they had fallen victim to the overall downsizing that was actually aimed at purging Wasa of ghost workers. “Genuine employees will not only be reinstated, but their unpaid salaries will also be released to them,” he added.

Regarding unpaid salaries of other employees, the Wasa chief said that efforts were under way to recover dues outstanding against the federal and Sindh government department. “As soon as we are able to recover the dues, we will disburse salaries and dues to all employees,” he said.

Published in Dawn September 1st, 2016