Railway workers gear up to besiege headquarters

Pakistan Railways employees’ Prem Union chief Hafiz Salman Butt has announced that the union workers from all over the country would besiege Railway Headquarters on November 17 in protest against the government and railway administrations’ conspiracies against the national institution.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday after the release of funds from federal government to pay off the salaries of railway employees at Lahore Railway Station, he said the workers would not only perform sit-in but would also give an ultimatum to the government to take practical steps for the complete restoration of PR as part of their ‘Save Railways’ campaign. “If the government does not take the demands of over one lac government employees seriously, we will start a march towards Islamabad and we will stage a sit-in outside the President House,” Salman said, adding that PR workers would also ask other unions and politicians to join them.
Chief of largest workers union of Pakistan Railway said the sit-in outside presidency would end with the destruction of the present government. He added that before going to such extreme they would hold meetings with intellectuals and journalists in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad on October 31, November 1 and 3 to present their plan of PR rehabilitation.
Demanding immediate release of funds under the bailout package, he said Rs 13 billion have been earmarked in the name of PR rehabilitation but to date, the government had released only Rs 1 billion which were not enough to pay the salaries of workers for one month.