Wapda workers observe strike against privatisation plan

Rawalpindi: Workers of Wapda observed a countrywide strike here on Wednesday. As a mark of protest, employees boycotted the official work and took out a big vehicular rally on the Benazir Bhutto Road to express their resentment over the proposed plan of the government to privatise all power units.

The vehicular procession was taken out from the main office of Wapda/Iesco, Mareer Chowk, under the leadership of All Pakistan Hydro Electric Workers Union central general secretary Khurshid Ahmed Khan, and Regional Chairman Mian Ghani Rehman. The workers had come from all parts of the country including Lahore, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Karachi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, etc, to participate in the rally. The vehicular procession comprised, cars, coasters and motorbikes and the protesters raised slogans against the government all over the way.

Later, the protesters proceeded to Islamabad to stage demonstration in front of the Parliament House. Speaking on the occasion, Hydro Power Workers Union joint secretary Raja Khalil Ashraf informed that the protesters are not giving any deadline to the government to suspend countrywide power supply. The reason behind is that negotiations between the high-ranking government officials were held with the representatives of Wapda the other day.