'Decent work not disposable jobs!' Unilever Lipton Tea Workers� Historic May Day Rally

Posted to the IUF website 04-May-2009

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In the first May Day activities ever held in the town of Khanewal , more than 400 contract agency workers from the Unilever Lipton tea factory marched through the streets demanding decent work. They were joined by over 100 Nestle union members from nearby Kabirwala.


Representatives of several trade union federations, including the national Railway Workers� Union and the Anjuman Mazarain Punjab (Punjab Peasants� Organization) joined the rally, pledging support for the Unilever Lipton workers� struggle.

The rally was organized by the Unilever Lipton Khanewal workers� Action Committee, the IUF-affiliated National Federation of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Workers (NFFBTW) and the IUF Pakistan office.

Security was a major concern at that rally, with the rising threat of a violent backlash from the labour agency contractors and local Unilever management. The campaign for permanent jobs for hundreds of contract agency workers threatens to end the lucrative contracts, deals and kickbacks that the contractors and local management have reaped over the past two decades. The Unilever Lipton Khanewal workers� Action Committee organized a security team to protect themselves against armed attacks.



Support the Khanewal Unilever workers' struggle against disposable jobs - CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO UNILEVER!