Workers demand withdrawal of Iesco privatisation plan

Rawalpindi:  The Iesco workers have threatened to completely suspend power supply if the government does not withdraw its plan of privatising this profitable body.

The threat of power suspension was given by the leaders of All Pakistan Hydro-Electrical Workers Union including Javed Baloch, chairman, Raja Zaahir Shah, general secretary, and Raja Khalil Ashraf , joint secretary, while leading a procession from Wapda head office, Mareer Hassan, to Rawalpindi Press Club here on Tuesday.

The procession was participated by large number of employees of Iesco of Rawalpindi district. While marching towards Press Club, the participants raised anti-government slogans.

On reaching in front of the Press Club, the procession turned into demonstration which was addressed by union leaders.

Javed Baloch, Khursheed Ahmed Khan, Zaahir Shah and Khalil Ashraf while making fiery speeches said that they held meeting with Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif on November 16 and demanded him not to privatise Iesco as no positive results would be achieved by this. The prime minister directed them to meet the federal minister of Wapda Khawja Asif in this connection. On his directions, they tried to meet the minister. However, every time despite getting appoints, their meeting with the minister has not taken place yet since the last one month, they alleged.

The leaders called upon the federal minister, Khawaja Asif, to hold negotiations with the union leaders on this issue. If the government fails to meet our demand of not privatising this power body in a specified time, we would have no other option but to adopt very strict strategy which would be decided in the next meeting of the general body of APHEWU next month i.e February this year.