Pakistan Wapda Employees Pegham Union president S D Saqib has said that the Union will challenge the referendum in the court on June 2, as the tenure of the CBA is ending at the same day. Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club here on Wednesday, he said that workers would celebrate "Submission Day" throughout the country on June 4.
Ashen Ahmad Chaudhry, Tauqeer-ul-Islam, Maqbool Hussain and Amjad Haneef were also present on the occasion. He said that in the previous referendum the Wapda Pehgam Union got more than 53,000 votes and the union was set to sweep the forthcoming referendum. He alleged that neither CBA could stop the privatisation of Wapda, nor could protect the fundamental rights of the workers.
He further said that CBA also remained unsuccessful to restore self-respect of the employees. He said that more than 300 experienced linemen had died due to fatal accidents because of old and substandard supply and distribution system in the Wapda.
More than 400 workers of Wapda were crippled due to the unsatisfactory safety arrangements for the maintenance procedures. The proper treatment facilities and compensation was not provided to the victims, who faced the calamity during their duty hours and CBA could not do any thing for them.
He mentioned that the income of Wapda had crossed Rs 300 billions with a consumer base of more than 20 million but the number of the employees remained the same with no increment in salaries or other benefits. He underscored the need to improve the promotion procedure. He held Wapda Hydro Union responsible for the plight of the employees.