THE joint platform of Central Trade Unions (CTU) and Sectoral Independent Federations and Associations, in its meeting held on July 8, reiterated its support to the defence production employees, protesting the central government's policies to privatise defence production sector and ordnance factories network.

The CTUs noted with concern that, simultaneously, a substantial part of the defence-related production is being outsourced to the private sector, both indigenous and foreign, permitting 100 per cent FDI. They said that these measures are going to severely weaken the indigenous production network of all basic requirements of the defence forces, much to the detriment of national interests.

The CTUs voiced their condemnation of the hasty promulgation of the Essential Defence Service Ordinance by the central government, meant to brutally suppress the rising discontent among the defence production employees. The ordinance bans the right to strike in the defence production sector.  The CTUs said that it has various draconian penal provisions extending even beyond strike, to all kinds of collective democratic protests.  “It empowers the government to extend those brutal autocratic measures to other sectors as well,” said the CTUs in their joint statement. The joint platform of CTUs denounced such  an ordinance with a firm resolve to fight and resist it unitedly.

The joint platform of CTUs has called upon the working people all over the country and the entire trade union movement to raise their united voice of protest against this authoritarian ordinance hurriedly promulgated by the central government only to benefit big corporations, foreign and domestic. They called upon the workers and their unions to observe countrywide protest and agitation on July 23 against the ordinance and the rampant drive of privatisation of PSUs, defence production sector and ordnance factories network in particular.