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LAHORE: Passenger trains service remained suspended throughout the country for over 10 hours on Monday as railways employees did not allow any locomotive to roll out of the loco shed in protest against non-payment of salary.
The employees already protesting against disconnection of electricity and gas supplies to residential colonies three days ago first closed the gates of the loco shed at around 8am and then lay down on tracks at all major stations.
In Lahore, railway police personnel posted near the loco shed and at the Lahore Station, but did not try to disperse the protesters. And some of them in plainclothes were seen supplying water and snacks to protesters who were chanting ‘paisay doo, kam lo, mazdoor se roti na cheeno.’
Mazdoor Union’s secretary general Haji Seed Arian, Mehnat Kash Union’s Baba Khaki Hussain, Workers Union’s Asif Ali Khan, Loco Shed Workers Union’s Sarfraz Khan and other leaders of ‘Rail Bachao Ittehad’ who were leading the protest said employees were not getting their salaries and pensioners were not being paid.
Furthermore, they said, electricity connections of 26 railway colonies had been cut off for non-payment although the amount was being deducted regularly from the salary of employees.
At around 6pm, Lahore Division’s Commercial Officer approached the protesters and conveyed to them a message of the railways administration that a final date for payment of salaries would be conveyed to them by Tuesday noon.
After consultations, the employees agreed to call off the protest.
In Rawalpindi, employees demonstrated at the railway station and warned the government of complete wheel-jam from Wednesday.
More than 200 railway workers, led by Railways PREM Union Ishtiaq Aasi and Raja Yasir Aslam, gathered at the railway station and stopped trains for more than two hours.
Workers and drivers at the Central Diesel Locomotive (CDL) workshop also observed a strike for two hours and staged protests.
