265 Workers of Merk Marker factory in Quetta who were sacked last year are still struggling for their reinstatement and call for solidarity from Merk Marker workers in other countries.
On May Day 2010 PTUDC and Pakistan Workers’ Federation in Quetta celebrated May Day by protesting the sacking of 265 employees from Merk Factory by the management. The struggle by those working for their jobs has been going on for almost one year now against the brutal bosses. So workers held a protest in front of the Governor’s House and Chief Minister’s House.
At 10am different trade unions started to form a rally in front of the Town Hall. A joint rally of PTUDC and Merck Factory workers started from Jail Road. Workers were holding banners and placards with their demands. Participants raised slogans against state policies in Balochistan, capitalism, poverty, imperialism, privatization and price hikes. When the rally reached GPO Chowk, the Police tried to block the march which made the workers furious and they started raising the slogan “Lathi Goli ki sarkar nahi chalay gi” (State can’t rule us with power and oppression). At about 10.30am a lot of workers and students had gathered at the Town Hall. After that, the huge crowd, after passing through many markets and avenues in the form of a rally, reached the GPO Chowk near the Chief Minister’s house. The demonstration transformed into a protest which many workers’ leaders addressed. A one minute silence was observed in order to salute the martyrs of Chicago. Haji Ramzan Achakzai (PWF), Manzoor Baloch (Cahirman United Labor Federation), Khan Zaman (Provincial President United Labor Federation), Abdul Salam (Chairman Pakistan Workers Federation), comrade Nazar Mengal (Central Secretary General PTUDC), Haji Aziz Ullah, Haji Said Ullah , Hassan Baloch, Mustafa Kurd, Muhammad Yousaf, Qasim , Abid Butt, Ali Raza Mangol, Nasreen Taj, Abdul Haye, Haji Bashir and many others addressed the rally. Agha Muhammad from WAPDA Hydro Union acted as stage secretary.
Participants paid tribute to the martyrs of Chicago and condemned the naked exploitation of the management of Merck Marker in Germany. They also supported the struggle of the employees in Quetta against state authorities and the factory management. They also condemned brutality and demanded that all the workers should be reinstated immediately otherwise the protests will spread to the whole province and then the whole country.
The protest continued untill 8pm when a representative of the Balochistan government, Muhammad Younas, came to negotiate with the workers and promised that the 265 workers sacked from Merck Factory would be reinstated soon. But this promise has still not materialised after three weeks.
We appeal to the workers of Merck Marker in other other countries and workers of the world to support our struggle and raise this demand in their unions and factories because an injury to one is an injury to all.