KARACHI, March 17: The National Labour Federation on Thursday, condemning the proposed privatization of the Pakistan Steel, has demanded that the process be abolished and privatization policy of the government be scrapped immediately.

Speaking at a press conference at Karachi Press Club NLF leaders Mairajuddin Khan, Shahid Ayub, Rafiq Ahmad, Mohammad Iqbal and others demanded that rather than privatizing the mills, its capacity be enhanced so that it could meet demands of the local market.

They alleged that the real reason for privatizing the mills was its thousands of acres of valuable land and plans were being made to give it to favourite to make a windfall profit.

They also criticized the steps being taken by other organizations that had been recently privatized, like Habib Bank, which has sacked over 2,300 workers. They demanded that all those workers who had been sacked from the organizations which had been privatized be reinstated,

They also suggested that an independent commission, with representatives of workers and other stakeholders, be established to review the performance of all those organizations which have been privatized.

They also demanded that trade union activities be allowed in all the organizations so that rights of the workers could be safeguarded.