Police fired tear gas and baton-charged hundreds of protesters in industrial city against non-implementation of wage enhancement agreement for Powerlooms Industry effective July 01, 2010, here Tuesday. During clashes between police, powerlooms owners and workers, more than three dozen persons were injured, including Rana Muhammad Tahir, District President of Labour Qaumi Movement and four brothers Muhammad Aslam, Ashraf, Irshad and Abdul Rauf owners of Sidhar Weaving Factory.
More than 60 persons were arrested by the police during the violence. Angry mobs burnt and torched five powerloom factories in Sidhar, Qadirabad and Faizabad. Protesting workers also set ablaze a car and three motorcycles. Heavy police contingents have been posted at six industrial areas, including Ghulam Muhammadabad Colony, Faizabad, Qadirabad and Sidhar.
However, negotiations between Owners and leaders of Labour Qaumi Movement are in progress at Commission Office Faisalabad, in which it was unanimously agreed to implement the agreement. However, DCO Faisalabad warned that law and order should be maintained at every cost and violation of 144Crpc could not be tolerated. According to details, the protest demonstration was started from Sidhar industrial area, where a gunman of powerloom Factory started indiscriminate firing on protesting labourers. Resultantly, 13 powerlooms workers were injured in clashes. Four of them wereshifted to Allied Hospital Faisalabad for treatment.
The news of this mishap spread in other industrial zones, resultantly, workers of powerlooms Units observed complete strike and took out protest processions against the factory owners demanding immediate arrest of the factory owner responsible for firing.
Talking to newsmen, Mian Abdul Qayyum, Chief of Labour Qaumi Movement said that the protest movement was held peacefully in Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang Districts, but some owners of the Powerlooms factories adopted unfair means. He urged government to implement the agreement for enhancement of the wages signed by the owners and district administration. Mian Qayyum strongly condemned the police action against the protesting labourers.
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