Sanitary workers go on strike over non-payment of salaries

Rawalpindi: The sanitary workers of Albayrak went on strike against non-payment of salaries and stopped lifting garbage from all City and Potohar Town areas here on Wednesday.

The protesters have also stopped cleaning metro bus stations demanding their salaries first. A large number of sanitary workers gathered here at Murree Road and Chandni Chowk raised anti-government slogans and demanded payment of salaries immediately.

They have warned not to lift garbage till payment of salaries. The protesters also gathered here at Garbage Transfer Station near Liaquat Bagh. Albayrak spokesman Muhammad Ghafoor told ‘The News’ that he could not tell the factual reason of present crisis because higher authorities did not allow him to share it with media persons. “We are trying to resolve this issue in a couple of days,” he assured.

Some key post officers from Albayrak Company on condition of anonymity said that Punjab government has stopped all kinds of funding therefore all works were pending for over five months.

The Albayrak company management was paying salaries and other dues to sanitary workers but now they have no there were zero funds now to pay even salaries to the sanitary workers, they said. The management of Albayrak Company has no funds even to fill the petrol tanks of garbage lifting vehicles, the officials claimed.