Faisalabad [Pakistan], April 25 (ANI): Hundreds of sanitation workers and rickshaw drivers marched in Faisalabad to protest nearly two months of unpaid wages under an outsourcing arrangement tied to the Suthra Punjab Authority, The Express Tribune reported.
The march, led by Baba Latif Ansari — head of the Pakistan Labour National Movement and president of the Huqoq Khalq Party Punjab — moved from District Council Chowk to the Deputy Commissioner’s Office. Ansari accused authorities and contractors of breaching labour agreements and neglecting workers’ rights.
He said the Care Services Company, contracted by the Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC), was obliged to register workers with Social Security and the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI). According to Ansari, registrations were only partially completed, Social Security contributions have not been deposited for six months — a shortfall of about Rs 65 million — and EOBI payments were entirely neglected, leaving nearly 1,200 sanitation workers without pensions and medical benefits.
Protesters blocked the road with long queues of rickshaws and dumped truckloads of rubbish at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office gate to dramatise alleged mismanagement and official indifference.
After talks with Suthra Punjab Authority Managing Director Abid Hussain Bhatti and Assistant Commissioner City Adil Umer, officials issued a show-cause notice to the outsourcing firm and ordered immediate release of pending payments to rickshaw drivers and faster processing of sanitation workers’ salaries. Bhatti, however, said FWMC was not directly responsible because the workers were employed through third-party contractors, The Express Tribune reported. (ANI)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
