HYDERABAD, Sept 13: The employees of three Taluka councils of Hyderabad, Latifabad, and Qasimabad including teachers of schools managed by the Taluka councils and health and sanitation staff continued their strike for the second consecutive day and staged a protest demonstration outside the press club on Friday.
They were protesting against the non-payment of their two-month salaries.
The CBA union leaders of the three Taluka councils refused to call off the strike on the intervention of the three-member committee appointed by the city Nazim.
The committee comprised the Nazim of union council 3, Q. Hakim, the Naib Nazim union council 11, Qamaruddin Shaikh, and the minority councillor, Jagdish Kumar.
M. Q. Hakim informed the protesters that a cheque for a month’s salary had been received and he promised to make all out efforts to approach the relevant authorities in Karachi and Islamabad to get the backlog cleared within one-and-a-half months.
However, the CBA union leaders, led by Akram Rajput, asked Mr Hakim to promise that if he could not get the backlog cleared within the stipulated period, then the Nazims of the Taluka councils would resign from their posts.
The committee members left the spot without committing themselves to any such thing.
Addressing the rally, the CBA union leaders, Akram Rajput, Bashir Niaz, Khursheed Anwar, and Ismail Shah said that the district Nazim had held out a promise nine months back that the backlog of salaries of the employees would be paid but the promise had not been kept.
They said that all they were asking for was the payment of their hard-earned wages but the authorities were least bothered about the miseries of the low-paid employees.
Mr Akram Rajput said that all the employees were prepared to tender their resignations en block if all their legal dues including gratuity, provident funds, and salaries were paid in one instalment. He, however, said that he would launch a campaign in the city to persuade the people not to serve in the bankrupt local councils.
He said that the Nazims of three Taluka councils and the district Nazim would be welcomed to hold a dialogue with the union leaders in the office of the Muttahida Labour Federation circular building at 11am on Tuesday.