LAHORE: Workers from Wapda, railway, gas, postal service, power-looms and textile sectors etc on Sunday organised a rally in protest against feared retrenchment by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.

The participants marched from Aiwan-i-Iqbal up to the Shimla Pahari and chanted slogans against what they called anti-labour policies of the government.

Led by Trade Union Defence Campaign leader Nazer Mengal and MNA Ali Wazir, they said the government was taking the step at the behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek loans from the international lending agency.

They lamented that on one hand inflation was on its peak, while on the other the government was introducing downsising in various state enterprises and selling off public entities that would worsen the financial conditions of the working class.

Demanding that the government to shun its privatisation policy and instead consult the workers for converting these state institutions into profit-earning entities, they also sought that jobs of all contractual labour must be regularised as per Supreme Court decision in 2006.

They pledged to show solidarity with railway workers on Nov 5 (today) by joining their protest at the railway headquarters in Lahore.