PAKISTAN: Authorities arrest unionists

PAKISTAN: Authorities arrest unionists

LAHORE — Military authorities in Hyderabad in southern Sind province briefly imprisoned 11 trade unionists and have now charged them with "breaching the peace" in an attempt to crush an attempt to form a union in the Dada Bhoi cement factory.

Since May, workers at the factory have been seeking to register a new union, the Progressive Employees Union, with the National Industrial Relations Commission. The factory's owner has managed for the past 17 years to prevent a union forming.

The NIRC has so far refused the workers' application on the grounds that a union is already registered at the factory — one established by the boss with the sole purpose of blocking the PEU's registration.

The factory's owners have even offered union secretary Younus Rahoo a half million rupee ($10,000) bribe to stop attempting to register the union.

When Rahoo rejected the offer, the owners turned to the military authorities, asking them to arrest the union's leaders.

Rahoo and eight other factory workers were arrested on June 28. On July 1, Aziz Abbasi, the general secretary of the Watan Dost Mazdoor Federation, an affiliate of the Pakistan Workers Confederation, and Dost Mohammed Channa, the chairperson of the Labour Party Pakistan in Sind, were also arrested for supporting the workers.

The 11 had all been released on bail by July 3. All are members of the Labour Party Pakistan; Abbasi, Channa and Rahoo are members of the party's national committee.

In the month of June, 18 LPP members were arrested for union activities. Rahoo has himself been arrested previously for organising workers.

BY FAROOQ SULEHRIA

From GLW issue 411