News
Wheel-jam strike against KESC today
Karachi: Life in the city is set to slow today as the Karachi Transport Ittehad has decided to join a wheel-jam strike on the decision taken by an All Parties' Conference held recently under the aegis of the KESC Mazdoor Ittehad.The city dwellers have been urged by concerned political circles to observe the wheel-jam strike against prolonged power outages, "bogus" electricity billing, and the KESC plan to lay off over 4,000 employees.
Muhammad Usman Baloch, president of the KESC Labour Union that is CBA of the KESC workers, told The News on Thursday that the strike call had the support of major political parties, including the Pakistan People's Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Sunni Tehreek, as well as of some religious and nationalist parties.
He said that Karachiites had been urged to observe a complete strike on Friday as an effective mode of protest against the lingering power woes, inflated electricity bills, and the threat of job insecurity faced by around 4,500 employees of the KESC placed in a surplus pool.
Baloch said that with the support of different political and social circles, an effective wheel-jam strike in a peaceful manner would be observed against "highhandedness" of the KESC management.
Muhammad Ikhlaq Khan, chairman of the KESC Labour Union, said that the strike would be observed in a peaceful manner. He said there was no plan to stage any protest sit-in, public meeting, or rally at any point in the city, including the KESC's installations.
"So far we have been peaceful in our protest movement and would remain peaceful as well on Friday on the occasion of the public strike," Khan.
The Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) also announced participation in the wheel-jam strike on Friday to express solidarity with the KESC's striking employees.
Talking to this scribe on Thursday, President KTI Irshad Hussain Bukhari said that a three-member delegation of the KESC Labour Union under the supervision of its president, Usman Baloch, met him at his office and requested him to join the wheel-jam strike.
He said the delegation was of the view that the strike call could not be successful without the participation of the KTI.
The delegation appealed to the KTI to assist the vulnerable employees of the KESC at this juncture, he added.
Bukhari said he had informed the delegation that the KTI was a non-political organisation in which all sorts of ethnic groups were included. The KESC Labour Union was also a non-political organisation representing all groups. As such, it was not possible for the KTI to avoid their appeal, Bukhari said.
He said it been decided that transporters would observe the strike and would not bring any sort of public transport, including buses, minibuses and coaches on to the roads today to express solidarity with the affected employees.
He said loadshedding, high tariff, fluctuating voltage and an uncertain electricity supply were the problems that the transporters were also facing. He said that as almost every citizen was being affected by the situation, this was not only the issue of the KESC Labour Union but that of all stakeholders.
Courtesy www.geo.tv