KARACHI, Feb 28: Four railway workers unions under the umbrella of the Rail Bachao Ittehad staged a protest demonstration on Tuesday at the city station against what they described as ‘shoddy’ privatisation deals.

The protesters sought the immediate restoration of all cargo and passenger trains and payment of dues to retired officials.

Pakistan Railways workers would never accept loot and plunder by capitalists in the name of privatisation, said Railway Workers Union Chairman Manzoor Ahmed Razi while addressing the protesters. He said trains were being sold for peanuts.

“Workers will never let private trains operate on the current terms and conditions.”

He added that if any private firm desired to invest in the railways, it should bring in the required infrastructure, including locomotives, coaches and staff, while the department could provide tracks by charging them a certain amount.

Mr Razi, who is also a Rail Bachao Ittehad supreme council member, demanded that all the dues of retired officials be paid immediately.

Representatives of the Railway Workers Union, the Railway Mehnetkash Union, the Railway Mazdoor Union and the Pakistan Railways Employees (PREM) Union participated in the demonstration staged in front of the office of the divisional superintendent. On the occasion, it was announced that a protest demonstration would also be staged at the railway headquarters in Lahore on March 20.

Chairman of the PREM Union Syed Ali Shah said that the protests staged by railway workers across the country demonstrated their unity and commitment on the issue.

If the general manager was not removed from his post, he warned, a protest movement would be launched on March 20. The railway authorities would be responsible for any untoward incident in that case, he added.

He quoted workers as saying that capitalist policies were not acceptable to them under any circumstances. He criticised the recent ‘shoddy’ privatisation deals, saying that the workers would never let the department become hostage to capitalists.

Other supreme council members of the Rail Bachao Ittehad, including Rao Naseem, Syed Shahid Iqbal, Manzoor Mallah, also spoke. Criticising recent trends in the department, they said that neither did the privatisation of different institutions benefit them in the past nor would it help the railway.

The department had the capacity to work on its own, they said, adding that a complete restoration of freight train service could return huge profits.

They said that the railway was facing financial crisis due to bad policies of department administrators. They said that the department had not been giving to 2,000 retired employees their rightful dues for the past eight months.

Criticising the proposed deals to privatise four other trains, they said further privatisation would prove disastrous.

They condemned political interference in the department. The Pakistan Railways was a better department when there was no railway ministry, they said, adding that it worked better for 28 years without the ministry’s involvement into its affair. They also demanded that corrupt and negligent officials be dismissed immediately.—PPI