Pakistan: Worker burned due to callousness of Unilever Rahim Yar Khan

Unilever Management has received many awards internationally for safety in their factories, especially the management are always touting the idea that safety at their R.Y.Khan plant is the best in the world. This, however, is a big lie like so many others told by capitalists around the world. In 2011 alone there were two major accidents at R.Y.Khan. In one accident three fingers of a worker were cut in a machine.

Recently on 5^th October at 7.45 a.m. in the Soapry department of Unilever Rahim Yar Khan an employee, Hafiz Mehboob Ahmad of Hamid & Shahid contractors, was seriously injured and his body suffered burns. This accident happened due to inappropriate safety measures. Workers had already informed department manager Saeed Azam, Tariq Wahab and the Chemical-In-Charge Majid Khan about these inadequate safety measures, but they never gave this concern any importance. This callousness led to this accident and Hafiz Mehboob suffered burns a s a consequence.

This is not the first incident of this kind and many workers have been affected before due to this callous and brutal behavior. If any worker complains about safety measure he is ridiculed by the management goons and is threatened with dismissal and reported to the Police on false charges.

Unilever management tried its level best to hide this incident but this time they failed and the tyranny inside the Unilever plant has become publicly known.

After this incident an emergency meeting of the R.Y.Khan district workers’ action committee was called with Naeem Mohandra in the chair. The President of the Movement for the Reinstatement of Dismissed Workers Unilever R.Y.Khan, Malik Nadeem, the chairman Sajjad Shah, PTUDC Organizer Raees Kajal, Jam Saleem ur Rehman, President of the Kiln Workers’ Union, Abdul Wahid Noonari, Power Loom Workers’ president Abid Hussain Shah and other labour leaders participated in this meeting.

A resolution was passed to condemn the Unilever Management for its anti-labour activities and to demand that proper safety measures should be provided for the workers in all factories of Unilever. Labour leaders also demanded that the dismissed workers of Unilever R.Y.Khan should also be reinstated immediately.