Utility Stores Closure Leaves Employees Without August Salaries

The closure of the Utility Stores Corporation has left employees without their salaries, as ten days of August have already passed without payment. The employees say they are struggling due to the delay, which comes after the federal government shut down operations of the Utility Stores on July 31. According to Syed Arif Hussain Shah, Secretary General of the Employees Union, the recent losses suffered by Utility Stores are the result of poor government policies. He accused ministers of making misleading statements in the National Assembly about the state of the corporation and claimed that the committee led by Rana Sanaullah failed to honor commitments made to the employees. Shah further alleged that preparations have been completed to sell billions of rupees worth of fixed assets at throwaway prices. He termed the closure of the Utility Stores as contempt of court, citing an existing stay order, and said that shutting down the corporation without following legal procedures is a violation of Pakistan’s Constitution and labor laws. The union leader accused the government of sacrificing a public institution to personal ego, vowing to protect the rights of the employees at all costs. He warned that if the government fails to fulfill its promises, workers will be forced to hold another sit-in in Islamabad. Earlier, employees had staged a prolonged protest in the federal capital against the closure. The sit-in ended after successful negotiations between the government and the employees’ action committee, but workers now accuse the authorities of reneging on the agreement, as salaries remain unpaid and operations halted.