Pakistan: Brutal police action against workers in Khanewal

From: Qamar ul Hassan

Date: Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 3:01 PM

Police arrested a prominent trade union leader in Kabirwala on 29
September without any FIR, transferred him from one police station to
other. Kabirwala police arrested Muhammad Hussain Bhatti, President
Nestle Employees Union without any charge. The workers protested
against the arrest and blocked the road. When police assured to present Bhatti at court next morning, these workers finished their protest. Late night the police raided at the residences of workers arrested many of them in Khanewal and Kabirwala on the charge of protest and road blocking. On 30 Sept the workers approached the court and many got bail before arrest. When these workers were on the way to home the police again arrested many workers who were on the bail. Workers showed police their bail orders but police refused to accept these orders and put them behind the bar. Police has registered a FIR against more than 200 workers, crackdown is ongoing and police is arresting workers without discrimination whether they are on bail or not.

The casual workers at Nestle Kabirwala are struggling for permanent
status and hundreds have filed legal cases and got stay orders from
the court. Nestle management did not respect the stay orders and
terminated many of them while many have been charge sheeted. Muhammad Hussain Bhatti, who is supporting these casual workers, demanded to the management that on permanent nature jobs, permanent workers should be hired and these casual workers who are already working on those positions have right to get permanent status. The management did not agree with Bhatti and decided to give him a lesson.

The trade union leaders in Multan and Khanewal condemned this brutal
attitude of police and called upon the government that police must respect the law and court orders. The National Federation of Food, Beverages and Tobacco workers has issued a statement and condemned the police action first against Senior Vice President of the Federation M. Hussain Bhatti and then against the workers. The federation also showed its serious concern over the behavior of Nestle management who has colluded with police and using unfair means to settle the industrial dispute between the casual workers and management. This act of management through local police to arrest, harass and intimidation workers is clearly unfair labour practice and management should resolve it through either bilateral or tripartite negotiation.

Qamar ul Hassan, IUF Pakistan Project Officer
Flat No. 11, Al-Mubashir Apartments, SB 36, Block 13-C, Gulshan-e-Iqbal
Karachi 75300, PAKISTAN

Tel & Fax # 92 21 34822012