Kaala Teeshun

Kaala Teeashun (Dark Station)

Kaala Teeashun (Dark Station) the name is a reference to the first railway station which was set up in the area by British to extract coal and gypsum in early 1930’s. Around this time Dalmia-Jain Group (now Dalmia-Bharat) also set its sight on this barren land. Due to abundance of gypsum, the prime raw material in cement production, this was a prime location to set up a cement plant. Thus began influx workers and their families to the area. This included both skilled and unskilled workers; the former mostly worked at the cement plant whereas the later were associated with numerous small scale businesses, coal mines and gypsum quarries around the factory.

In 1979, Govt. of Pakistan decided to extend the production capacity of this plant by setting up another more efficient plant besides the old factory. The idea was to have both plants running concurrently under State Cement Corporation. However this was short lived and the privatization drive of 1991 led to both plants being sold separately to private sector.

Baba (my father) was among the earliest employed workers at the new plant which later came to be known as Dandot Cement. Three years into his employment, Baba joined the first ever labor union at the new cement establishment and soon began working towards organizing workers across different industrial units in the area. With the military dictatorship of general Zia at its prime, this was a particularly precarious time to be involved in such activism. Most of the industrial units in the area were still state owned and dissent often drew an iron fisted response from the Govt. Reflecting back at that time and considering the current state of trade union politics in our country, this was perhaps the last era when new labor unions were registered.

It’s often assumed that the labor struggle in Pakistan flourished after Bhutto’s nationalization. From an outsiders’ perspective it does make a lot of sense considering how most industrial units – during 80’s and 90’s – had a labor union affiliated with relevant federations and major political parties at provincial/national level. And post privatization, the labor union politics has gradually receded. However Baba, who has been a labor leader for the last 4 decades, feels that the Bhutto era policies in fact damaged labor struggle in the long run. He believes the labor movement which was organically developing in the country at that time was hijacked by national level labor federations which were funded directly or indirectly by the government. Labor leaders at the helm of these federations never had the motivation to do grass root level work to organize the movement and develop a succession plan. At the time of privatization, naturally the government withdrew its support for these federations and with it came the collapse of labor struggle across the country.

Initially state owned, Dandot Cement was privatized during Nawaz’s first government as part of the massive privatization drive carried out during that time. During state control the factory was being operated under the umbrella of State Cement Corporation, the workforce here like all state enterprises was permanent and the labor union was affiliated with cement and other worker federations operating in the country. Baba had the opportunity to observe the entire process of privatization; both as an office bearer of the local labor union and as a member of All Pakistan State Enterprises Privatization Action Committee.

One interesting anecdote, as narrated by Baba, happened when the then chairman of privatization commission while chairing a meeting of state cement corporation mentioned that the purchase bid for Dandot Cement has been already accepted by the Govt. and the same has been communicated to the then prime minister. At this, the labor representative protested on how the government can finalize this bid without concurrence with the relevant labor union. The government backtracked to avoid backlash and allowed workers to bid under the employee buy-out policy. In a historic first, the employees won the bid and arranged funding for the privatization transaction. Thus, putting themselves in the driving seat when it came to negotiating finer points of the deal with the new management. In the renegotiated terms of employment, the labor union managed to include rights like child/widow employment in case of death of a worker and presence of a labor representative in all future disciplinary proceedings against any worker. Thus ensuring protection of employment for all the permanently employed workers of the factory. The agreement dated 19-05-1992 with the new management also included additional benefits for the workers like bonuses which were tied to factory surpassing its production goals.

With the new management in place the factory flourished during the first 2-3 years. This was a time when labor movement across the country had started losing steam and workers were being harassed by the private sector. The relationship between management and workers at Dandot Cement also soured at the formers’ insistence to renegotiate terms of employment. Eventually, management and labor union took each other to court and the case which started in labor court ended up in Lahore High Court. The agreement of 1992 thus got endorsed by High Court and the court appointed a lawyer as Co-Chief Executive of the Company to ensure implementation of the agreement. However, the tension kept simmering until the closure of factory for the first time in 1997 for a period of almost 3 years.

This started a cycle of closures and revivals which kept repeating itself up until recently. The plant was sold and resold multiple times during this period. Each new management tried to press workers into conceding the terms of the 1992 agreement. The workers led by their union remained steadfast.

The most recent spat between the management and workers started when management unilaterally and with no legal grounds wrote off liabilities owed to workers amounting to Rs. 367.22 million. These include gratuity/retirement benefits and death grants for families of deceased workers. Additionally management also terminated 277 workers in violation of the 1992 agreement and court orders.

Naturally workers went on strike which led to closure of plant and start of another legal battle. For the past 3 years the case is languishing in labor court with the management, led by families of the current law minister and governor Punjab, employing delaying tactics.

The employee colony of the factory where I grew up now appears deserted. With most of the 250 families choosing to relocate due to absence of work opportunities and harsh living conditions in the colony. The families living here were forced to vacate these homes as a result of vindictive actions; first the wages stopped, then the electricity and gas got disconnected and eventually the water supply line was also disrupted. Those who remain aren’t here by choice but are stuck due to circumstances. They still talk about the retirement benefits they will receive one day and how they will finally build their own homes.

For the first time I can see hopelessness engulfing the place.

If this was a site of an environmental disaster or plague much would have been said or written about it. But this is about a community being suffocated due to corporate greed and systemic corruption, this is about a judicial system which is helpless, and this is also about institutional decay.

I wonder how many more such Kala Teeashuns’ exist in Pakistan.