Pakistani and Manchester trade unionists in call for international solidarity after fire horror
Article published: Friday, September 28th 2012
Trade unionists from Manchester and Pakistan are calling for solidarity after a fire in a Karachi factory killed at least 289 people who were trapped inside.
The fire, one of the worst in the country’s history, has caused uproar at the scandalous neglect of workers’ safety and suspicions of bribery and collusion between government officials and business executives.
Manchester has deep historical links with Pakistan, and members of the Pakistan labour solidarity group PILAR will hold a public meeting on Monday evening to discuss how international solidarity can defend workers’ rights and resist the militarisation of the volatile region.
Speakers at the meeting will include senior Pakistani trade union figure Yonus Lala and Raza Rabbani, a member of Pakistan’s senate.
A PILAR spokesperson pointed to how the nuclear-armed states of India and Pakistan together spend $45bn each year on military purposes, even though a whopping 60 per cent of the world’s poor live in South Asia, and said peace and demilitarisation of flashpoints such as Kashmir were a “fundamental condition of any progress”.
PILAR organiser and retired Manchester Trades Council secretary Geoff Brown said solidarity is important because of “the links between Manchester and Pakistan. Not only are we all using textiles, footballs, surgical instruments and much else that comes from Pakistan but the race to the bottom is used against us here as we are told we have to compete with Asia.
“The potential for conflict in South Asia – India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the last 65 years and now are both armed with nuclear weapons – threatens all of us.”
Brown said the group wanted to campaigns to put pressure on Pakistani officials, including a letter writing campaign to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in regards to the Karachi fire, and boost links between trade union branches in Britain and Pakistan.
“Manchester Trades Council has given six trade unionists in Faisalabad sending letters of protest and a £100 donation”, said Brown. “Faisalabad is called the Manchester of Pakistan’ as it is a huge centre of textile production. The six are in jail with sentences totalling hundreds of years for allegedly using terrorists methods in a strike, accusations which are totally fabricated.”
The meeting will be held at 6.00pm, Monday 1 October in Safad Café, Bloom Street, M1 3LY behind Mechanic’s Institute on Princess St, Manchester city centre.
More: News, Unions and workplace
Comments
No comments found
The comments are closed.
