KARACHI: A rally organised by shipbreaking workers has demanded paid weekly holiday, 50 per cent increase in salaries and double overtime as per law.

A large number of workers, carrying banners and red flags while chanting slogans staged the rally to mark the fifth death anniversary of 29 workers who lost lives in the Nov 1, 2016 fire in a Japanese oil tanker at Gadani.

The event was led by National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) central president Muhammad Rafiq Baloch and Gadani Shipbreaking Workers Union president Bashir Mehmoodani.

The workers also demanded safety measures at the workplace. They also said meaningful consultation should be started on the proposed shipbreaking bill; the Hong Kong convention on shipbreaking should be ratified and International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines for shipbreaking in South Asia should be implemented; the rights of workers to make their trade unions should be accepted; workers should be registered with social security institutions and they should be given clean drinking water, canteen facilities, hospital facilities, a residential colony and school.

Addressing the rally, Mr Mehmoodani said five years had passed following the tragic fire incident at Gadani, but thousands of workers are still toiling in pathetically unsafe conditions as there had been no improvement in their working conditions and lives. Workers were also facing immense problems due to the Covid-19 situation, he added.

The NTUF president in his address said that the blood of 29 “martyrs of the Gadani shipbreaking yard” would not be allowed to go waste. He vowed to continue the struggle till the labour laws and constitutional rights of workers are practically implemented at yard.

“The labour department, Balochistan Employees Social Security Institute, Employees Old-age Benefits Institutions, environment department and other related agencies are violating labour laws at the behest of employers and have failed to control the lethal accidents at the shipbreaking yard,” he said.

Addressing the rally, Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) general secretary Zehra Khan said that despite the worst incidents of the history of shipbreaking at Gadani, the government and related departments were not taking steps to safeguard the lives of workers and improve their working conditions.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2021