Pakistan: Miners demonstrate and block the road against fascist attack
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- Parent Category: Worldwide struggles
- Created: Tuesday, 12 January 2021 20:22
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7 January, 2021 Pakistani mineworkers' unions estimate that at least 208 workers were killed on the job in 2020. This trend seems set to continue this year, with a fatal accident on New Years' Day, and two fatal accidents and a terror attack on 3 January. So far this year, 14 mineworkers have been killed.!
The precarious situation of mineworkers was further highlighted by a horrific terror attack in Mach, Balochistan, on 3 January, that left 11 mineworkers dead. The mineworkers were killed in a residential compound of a mine by a Pakistani affiliate of Islamic State, on an attack on members of the Shia Hazara minority. On 7 January, federations of Pakistani mineworkers' unions marched in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, and blockaded roads in a protest against the terror attacks and the lawlessness and lack of security in mining areas. IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said: "It seems that the government of Pakistan does not care about the shameful carnage in the country's mines. Both ourselves and the ILO have approached them on several occasions, in Islamabad and Geneva, to urge them to ratify and implement ILO C176. They have failed to do so. Once they do, we are ready to assist with mine safety training so we can change the situation."