Faisalabad, Pakistan — Hundreds of sanitation workers and rickshaw drivers staged a protest in Faisalabad on April 25 to demand nearly two months of overdue wages under an outsourcing arrangement linked to the Suthra Punjab Authority, The Express Tribune reported.
The demonstration, led by Baba Latif Ansari — head of the Pakistan Labour National Movement and president of the Huqoq Khalq Party Punjab — marched from District Council Chowk to the Deputy Commissioner’s Office. Ansari accused officials and contractors of violating labour agreements and ignoring workers’ rights.
Ansari said the Care Services Company, which holds the contract through the Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC), was required to register staff with Social Security and the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI). He alleged that registrations were incomplete, Social Security contributions have not been deposited for six months — creating a shortfall of about Rs 65 million — and EOBI payments were not made at all, leaving nearly 1,200 sanitation workers without pension and medical coverage.
Protesters blocked the road with lines of rickshaws and dumped truckloads of rubbish outside the Deputy Commissioner’s Office to highlight what they called mismanagement and official indifference.
After talks with Suthra Punjab Authority Managing Director Abid Hussain Bhatti and Assistant Commissioner City Adil Umer, authorities issued a show-cause notice to the outsourcing firm and ordered immediate payment of pending dues to rickshaw drivers and expedited processing of sanitation workers’ salaries. Bhatti said FWMC was not directly responsible because the staff had been hired through third-party contractors, The Express Tribune reported. (ANI)
(This report is sourced from a syndicated feed and published as received; The Tribune assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness.)
