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NEWS & LETTERS, December 2001Aid Pakistan strikers!
Lahore, Pakistan - The Civil Secretariat Employees Association Baluchistan
carried out an all-out strike in Quetta, Baluchistan on Nov. 19, demanding
implementation of the charter of demands accepted by the government in July. The
police and other law enforcement agencies attacked the striking workers using
brutality and heavy baton charges.The union had called off a two-week-long strike in July after reaching an
agreement. This union is an affiliate of the Pakistan Trade Union Defence
Campaign, and PTUDC members had played an important role in that strike. But four months later the government refused to implement the package they
agreed to. After lengthy meetings and negotiations with the government, the
union started a protest campaign. The police have so far arrested more than 100 trade union activists and
members of the union. The president and secretary general of CSEA were arrested
and have been severely tortured. Comrade Hameed Khan, as the main strike leader,
faces severe torture at the hands of the state. The PTUDC arranged an emergency meeting of trade union leaders in Lahore,
condemned the arrests and demanded the immediate release of the leaders and
strikers. We are launching a nationwide solidarity campaign. We have plans to
hold protest demonstrations in all the big cities and towns of Pakistan. We are
in urgent need of international solidarity and help. The workers' demands are for immediate and unconditional release of Hameed
Khan and all other arrested union leaders and workers; no more police harassment
of trade unionists; all cases against arrested strikers to be dropped
unconditionally, and implementation and acceptance of the Charter of Demands put
forward by the CSEA. Meanwhile, the working people and trade unionists of Pakistan need your help
urgently. Please send your protest messages to: President of
Pakistan (e-mail ce@pak.gov.pk), Federal Interior Minister (e-mail
minister@interior.gov.pk) and The Governor of Baluchistan, Quetta, Pakistan. Please send copies of all protest and solidarity messages to the Pakistan
Trade Union Defence Campaign: ptudc@nexlinx.net.pk. Donations can be made at www.ptudc.org. From Khalid Bhatti, National Organizer PTUDC |
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