A series of protests continues from the AGIGA platform for the resolution of issues faced by government employees. AGIGA had called for weekly protests, resulting in protests by employees across various cities in the country on December 19, December 26, January 2, and January 7.
In the central meeting of AGIGA, it was decided that from January 6, protests would be recorded daily by wearing black armbands at workplaces, and protest demonstrations would be organized in various cities from time to time. According to the schedule issued by AGIGA’s leadership, it was decided that on January 14-15, there would be a pen-down strike in educational institutions and government offices. On January 16, employees from all over Punjab would protest in front of the Civil Secretariat, and protests would also be held outside Deputy Commissioner offices in the districts. On January 22, a protest rally would be taken out from Nasir Bagh to the Punjab Assembly, and a sit-in would be held for the approval of demands. If the demands are not met, a sit-in would be held in front of the National Assembly in February until the demands are approved.
Although AGIGA’s charter of demands includes seven demands, the recent protests have focused on three main demands: the abolition of amendments to pension laws, the restoration of leave encashment, and the restoration of the 17A law.
In the recent protests, a significant number of teachers did not participate in various cities, apparently because teachers perceive AGIGA’s leadership as not being serious about the issue of privatization and not enthusiastic about resolving it. In the protests held in various cities, most protest banners highlighted the aforementioned three demands, with fewer banners addressing the other demands.
Similarly, recently, the teachers’ leadership formed an alliance to address the issues faced by teachers and to end privatization, and protests were also held. It is AGIGA’s leadership’s responsibility to address the doubts of the teachers of government educational institutions and to demonstrate seriousness regarding their demands by giving them primary importance in negotiations with the government.
Similarly, the issues of contract employees, who are present in significant numbers throughout Punjab, should also be given primary importance, and by including their demands in the protests, these employees should also be united with the movement.
AGIGA’s leadership should meet with the union leaderships of railways, WAPDA, and health institutions to include their employees in the movement and invite them to participate in the protests.
To make the protest series successful throughout Punjab, there is a need to form strike committees of employees within every institution. These organized protest committees are extremely important for the success of the current protest movement and are essential for eliminating issues like mistrust and lack of communication among employees. The central leadership needs to make all decisions democratically and involve employees in these decisions to eliminate mistrust, so that employees who are currently disappointed and do not trust the leadership can participate in these protests.
The PTUS-supported activists have been actively participating in all protests since the formation of AGIGA’s platform and have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the workers of all government institutions from the beginning. The activists of PTUS have also participated in the recent protests in various cities with their banners and have conveyed the message to the workers of all government institutions to move towards a general strike to force the current government to concede.
The PTUS believes that to decisively defeat the bosses, it is necessary to bring the united power of all workers into action and end state oppression. The only way to do this is through a general strike by the workers, where workers from all organisations and companies in Pakistan simultaneously go on strike until their demands are approved, showing the bosses who truly run the society.
PTUS will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the workers in every struggle for their rights and will continue the fight against this oppressive system until workers get their rights and the full value of their labour.
