35 sacked workers of multinational company held

SWABI: About 35 people, who have been protesting their dismissal by a multinational company, were arrested by the police and sent to jail in Dera Ismail Khan on Wednesday.

However, the worker leaders vowed to continue the peaceful protest at all costs as they claimed that the management of the company, Philip Morris International (PMI) Pakistan, had violated the labour laws and now bent on terrorising the workers and their families.

Mehnat Kash Union (MKU) central president Ibrarullah is also among those arrested.When contacted, officials of the district administration said that some of the workers had warned of self-immolation, which led to their arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order.

Earlier on Tuesday, leaders of the workers and officials of the company held negotiations at the deputy commissioner’s office.  During talks, the situation reached a point that the workers threatened self-immolation in the front of the main gate of the company as a protest if they were not reinstated.

Meanwhile, soon after arrest of workers, the union leaders said they would continue their peaceful protest while rejecting the threat of self-immolation. “It was used as a pretext to arrest the workers,” said one of the leaders.