KARACHI, March 26: The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) has condemned the arrest of six power loom workers who were seeking a pay rise and the use of torture by police to falsely implicate them in an extortion case.The workers were picked up from the industrial zone of Ittehad Town last week and the police produced them in an anti-terrorism court on Saturday, according to a statement issued by Piler on Monday.
Demanding immediate release of the workers and withdrawal of false charges against them, Piler called for tough action against police officials and factory owners who were involved in subjecting the workers to the unwarranted trauma.
The workers had been staging protests for the past one-and-a-half months seeking increase in wages and a weekly day off, it stated.
Piler — a non-governmental organisation engaged in research, training and advocacy in the areas of labour rights and labour legislation, social justice and human development, regional solidarity and peace — called for action against all those power-looms and towel manufacturing industries in Ittehad Town that are not registered under the Factories Act and do not extend a formal employment letter, minimum wages or social security benefits to their workers.
The six workers led the formation of a union at the industrial unit. Working in connivance with the factory owners, the police arrested them and booked them in extortion case, said the rights organisation.
They were allegedly tortured by the police that tried hard to force them to declare before the media that they were involved in extortion activities in the industrial area. The workers, however, refused to give in, according to the Piler statement.
On Saturday when they were produced in the ATC they were still too distraught to speak, it observed. The judge took note of the 'severe torture' on workers and warned the investigation officer against giving them the third degree. The officer was ordered to extend proper medical care to the traumatised workers.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of false charges against the Ittehad Town workers, Piler observed that levelling terror charges against workers and their trial in anti-terrorism court were the latest tactics of powerful industrial elite to crush workers who demand their rights.
According to Piler, six labour leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment for being involved in holding a strike for a 17 per cent rise in labour wages in Faisalabad. Their families are in distress in the absence of the sole breadwinner, it stated.
Besides, such incidents had a demoralizing effect on workers struggling for their constitutional rights, including those related to minimum wages and social security, the organisation observed. “These provisions are enshrined in the constitution and the state has a duty to ensure access to these rights and entitlements.”—PPI