Workers demand cut in prices

Lahore:The national conference of Wapda/electricity workers was held Thursday under the aegis of All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union (CBA) at Bakhtiar Labour Hall here.

It was presided over by Abdul Lateef Nazamani. Khurshid Ahmad, general secretary of the union, presented the report of the activities of the union during the year for defending and promoting the rights of the workers and rendering electricity services to 270 million electricity consumers by the workers of electricity and Wapda all over the country.

Hundreds of trade union representatives representing 120,000 members of the union from all over the country participated in the conference. Through a resolution, it demanded the prime minister control price-hike of essential commodities, raise the wages and pension of the workers employed in government and semi-government institutions by at least 30 per cent since there has been no increase in wages and pension by the federal and provincial government in the annual budget of the current fiscal year.

The workers also demanded the PM and policy makers not to privatise the national public utility electricity and thermal power houses on the behest of the IMF, since the experience of privatisation of Karachi Electric Supply Company and independent electricity power houses had completely failed in a city like Karachi and cost of IPPs was far higher.

The workers said the electricity distribution companies, on the other hand, have been providing electricity to more than 270 million electricity consumers all over the country at far cheaper rate compared to the high rate of electricity being charged by the privative independent power houses.

Through another resolution, the government was urged to check the rising tragic accidents of the line staff due to unsafe working conditions on account of serious shortage of the line staff. Twenty tragic accidents of the line staff occurred within two and a half months. They demanded safe and healthy working conditions on war footing basis. They appealed to the Ministry of Energy to regularise the daily and contract workers working for years.

The conference was also addressed by Muhammad Ramazan Achakzai, joint president (Balochistan), Haji Iqbal Khan from KP, Iqbal Khan from Sindh, Javaid Iqbal from Islamabad, Osama Tariq, Nosher Khan, Ghulam Rasool from Multan, Wali-ur-Rehman from Gujranwala)and Afsar Khan from Tarbela).

On the occasion, the election for the office-bearers of the union were held for the next two years in which Khurshid Ahmad was re-elected general secretary and Abdul Latif Nazamani president and Haji Muhammad Ramzan Achakzai, joint president. Later, hundreds of trade union representatives and workers took out a protest march.