Lahore/Hamza Saeed
Progressive Students Collective and Haqooq e Khalq Party arranged a protest today outside Galleria Mall Gulberg, Lahore against the recent firing of 4000 workers by Denim Clothing Company from its Karachi factory.
Earlier this week, Denim had fired its workers without prior notice, just days ahead of Eid, after the imposition of supertax by the government. The official policy of Denim states that if any worker is fired without a notice, they shall be given three months salary. However, they stand in clear violation of their own rules here.
Students, political workers and civil society members gathered outside Galleria Mall, one of the many destinations of Denim’s stock, and raised slogans against the exploitation of workers amid increasing inflation. Central member HKM Ammar Ali Jaan called upon the authorities to immediately reverse their decision and own their workers in times of economic recession. He further asserted that brands like Denim have massive budgets and yet when workers demand their due salaries, they start firing them without any notice.
“ These factory owners think that workers have no voice but they cannot be more wrong. Workers, students and women are more united than ever against this exploitation,” maintained Qaiser Javed, president PSC. “We will continue raising our voices for the oppressed until there’s no more oppression.”
The protest ended with the anti-capitalist and revolutionary sloganeering by the enthusiatic youth, echoing against the shiny billboards on main boulevard, Gulberg.
