Protest of Port Qasim dockworkers enters 10th day

Back in April 2016 when dockworkers of Port Qasim had organised a protest camp at the intersection of the National Highway and the port, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders, especially central leader Ali Haider Zaidi, visited regularly to criticise the then ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government for not resolving the workers’ demands. However, on Thursday, 10 days into a similar ongoing protest, the workers were still waiting for a PTI leader to come offer support.

Since September 24, more than 1,700 dock workers – most of them elderly – have been sitting at a protest camp outside the Karachi Press Club to pressure the government to resolve their issues. They are hopeful that like in 2016 this time too Ali Zaidi, who is now the federal minister for ports and shipping, will visit their camp to hear their problems. But, he has not visited in the past 10 days.

The dock workers said they had supported the PTI with the hope that the party will resolve their issues, but to no avail yet. According to trade union leader Abdul Wahid, there were seven berths in all at Port Qasim, the country’s second largest harbour. One was allocated for oil-carrying vessels and other liquids where dockworkers were not needed, while three others were sold to a private firm QICT, under the caretaker government of Moeenuddin Ahmed Qureshi in 1993.

He said that later in 2010, the Fauji Akbar Portia (FAP) Marine Terminal – a firm owned by the Fauji Foundation – was launched and the company brought in its own workers. The dockworkers who had then gathered to protest against the move were subjected to a brutal baton charge by law-enforcement agencies.

“And now, the port authorities want to sell two more berths,” Wahid said. “After the two berths are sold, there would only be one berth left which can possibly not accommodate the 1,751 registered dockworkers responsible for keeping a tally of the goods offloaded.”

Trade union leaders of the dockworkers association said the main objective of the protest was to ensure that the authorities agreed to the workers’ terms and conditions, but most of all job security. The peaceful protest, according to them, had gotten them nowhere as they complained of the port authorities’ indifference despite 10 days having passed since they set up the camp.

The labour leaders said they now felt compelled to warn authorities of both Port Qasim and Karachi Port of suspending all operations as the last resort if their demands are continued to be ignored.