Post Qasim protests

For nearly three months, over a thousand dock workers at Port Qasim in Karachi have been staging a sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club demanding payment of outstanding salaries. Their peaceful protest has fallen on deaf ears. On Sunday, knowing that Prime Minister Imran Khan was in town, they decided to take their protest to the Governor House and present the governor with a letter detailing their issues. Rather than respectfully listen to their pleas and release the amount they are owed, the government decided on violence. The peaceful protesters were baton charged and dispersed with water cannons, and about a dozen were arrested for trying to enter a restricted red zone.

One would think the PTI, of all parties, would be sympathetic to protests of this kind since entering red zones during protests was their modus operandi when in the opposition. But it is convenient for the state to treat workers worse than it does virtually everyone else. Even protesters like those of the TLP who explicitly incite violence against the state are permitted negotiations with the state and their demands are usually met. The dock workers, who only want five months of their salaries released and for their national identity cards to be issued, are treated like enemies of the state.

It needs to be pointed out that if anyone is breaking the law it is the government. The Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act of 1974 explicitly states that remuneration of dock workers must be paid and a minimum pay is set even for times when employment is not available. Failure to follow these laws results in six-month prison sentences or fines. The prime minister has finally taken notice of the protests, likely because of the media attention given to the police brutality. He now needs to not only release all the dues owed to the dock workers but punish those who ordered police action against the protesters. Additionally, the government needs to prioritise the empowerment of public and private sector labour unions. Unions are the only ones who can look out for the rights of their workers which is why they have been systematically undermined by the state. Apart from pay, dock workers often face hazardous conditions and have to work long hours in a profession where employment is rarely permanent. The government usually outsources work to third parties, with Chinese companies particularly being favoured under CPEC projects. As much as we may want foreign investment, it cannot be at the expense of labour.