PESHAWAR: The sacked employees of Philip Morris Pakistan, Frontier Sugar Mills and Pakistan Tobacco Company on Tuesday took out a procession and staged sit-in outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly building to demand their reinstatement with provision of all incentives.

The protesters were led by Mazdoor Kisan Party spokesman Shakeel Wahidullah Khan, Muttahida Mazdoor Alliance chairman Eng Amir Alam Khan, Mehnat Kash Labour Federation president Abrarullah, National Labour Federation president Tila Mohammad and Pakistan Tobacco Company Workers Union president Ihsanullah.

The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed with demands for reinstatement, provision of health, education facilities and job quota in different industries. They also chanted slogans against the management of their companies and government.

Mr Waheedullah said on the occasion that the employees were terminated over setting up worker unions and demanding their due rights from the management concerned.

He said that the employees had been serving those organisations for 15 to 30 years.

They spent the prime time of their lives in those industries and played vital role to boost business of the owners but they were terminated without telling them the actual reasons, he added.

Mr Abrar said on the occasion that children of the employees were expelled from the schools and workers were deprived of medical treatment in social security hospitals. The only fault of the employees, he said, was that they got worker unions registered to raise voice for their rights.

Eng Amir Alam and Tila Mohammad urged the provincial government to reinstate all the sacked employees, give them all pending incentives, salaries and ensure provision of medical and educational facilities without further delay.

He also stressed the need for strict accountability of corrupt people in management of the industrial units concerned to save the industries from bankruptcy. He said that government should ensure employment of the scions of workers in the industrial units concerned.

The sit-in outside provincial assembly building also created hurdles in the smooth flow of traffic on the busy road. The protesters dispersed peacefully when secretary and a director of labour department assured them of taking up their demands with the quarters concerned.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017