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30 October, 2012On 20 October three workers died after a tank fell on them at the Gadani shipbreaking yard plot 91 in Pakistan.
Nasir Mansoor, General Secretary of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), an affiliate of IndustriALL Global Union in Pakistan, said in a statement that three workers Kalimullah, Ghulam Nazir and Abdul Rahman lost their lives because of the absence of security measures at the yard.
The union believes that the main reason behind numerous accidents resulting in deaths and injuries at the yard is the absence of deputed safety guards.
According to the union some 15,000 workers of the shipbreaking yard work in extremely inhumane conditions with no access to potable water or social facilities including school, dispensary, hospital and canteen.
With the aim to prevent further accidents NTUF puts forward the following demands:
- Workers on duty should be provided with safety equipments;
- At each plot ambulances with dispensaries should be deputed;
- Besides the appointment letters, as part of their constitutional rights, workers must be registered with the Social Security Institute and with Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI).
Gadani shipyard is the third largest shipbreaking yard of the world, after Alang in India and Chittagong in Bangladesh, and is composed of over 130 shipbreaking plots occupying all together 10 kilometers of the beachfront area in the southern part of Pakistan.