The Railway Workers' Union (RWU, ur, ریلوے ورکرز یونین) is a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

workers in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. It is among the oldest and largest trade unions in the country. It is affiliated with the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation and International Transport Workers' Federation.

Organisation

The trade union is composed of Railway Workers' Union (Open Lines) ( ur, ریلوے ورکرز یونین اوپن لائن کی) and Railway Workers' Union (Workshops). Current office bearers in the trade union are: * Manzoor Ahmed Razi, Chairman * Ashiq Hussain Chaudhary, President * Muhammad Naseem Rao, General Secretary

History

The Railway Workers' Union was founded in 1948 by Pakistani trade union leader Mirza Mohammad Ibrahim. The poet

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

was elected as first Office Secretary. In 1960, RWU had 93,841 members in Pakistan. In October 1967, RWU went on strike in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

against price hikes and the unavailability of wheat. Together with a student movement, the union also protested against the dictatorship of Ayub Khan. RWU shut down rail service completely for 13 days. Hundreds of its workers and leaders were arrested in response. In the 1970s,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

introduced the separation of railway unions into open line and workshop sections. According to RWU's general secretary Muhammad Naseem Rao, this broke the unity of the workers. Mohammed Yousaf Baloch joined RWU in this period. In 1993, Moeen Qureshi declared the open line section of the railway an essential service, prohibiting its workers from striking. Under

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

, labour activity in the railway sector was again completely banned. In March 2010, RWU protested in Rawalpindi against the proposed privatisation of Pakistan Railways (PR). The Workers' Party Pakistan and the

National Students Federation The National Students Federation Pakistan (NSF) is a left-wing students federation in Pakistan. In the late 1960s, NSF adopted the political line of Marxism–Leninism and Mao Tse-tung Thought Its predecessor, the DSF ( Democratic Students Feder ...

also joined the protest. In January 2011, RWU and the Pakistan Railway Employees Union (PREM) rejected a plan to lay off 20,000 PR employees. In February 2012, RWU again protested against planned PR privatisation. In the same month, RWU protested against privatisation again together with the Railway Mehnetkash Union, the Railway Mazdoor Union and PREM. The unions also demanded that retired workers should be paid their due wages. RWU again protested against privatisation of PR together with the All Pakistan Trade Union Federation in 2014. In 2017, six RWU members were arrested for conducting a strike in Rawalpindi.

References

{{Trade unions in Pakistan navbox Transport trade unions in Pakistan Rail transport in Pakistan Railway labor unions Trade unions established in 1948 1948 establishments in Pakistan