PTCL United Workers Alliance rejects Etisalat unemployment plan Company plan to kick out 16000 more workers, Nationalise PTCL, United Alliance demands at a press conference in Lahore:

Today on 31^st July, leaders of six different trade unions speaking jointly at a press conference rejected the recently announced “voluntary separation scheme” (VSS) by Etisalat and termed it as a plan to kick 16000 more workers out of PTCL. The press conference was held at Lahore Press Club and was attended scores of journalists.

Hasan Rana secretary general Pak Telecom Employees Union (CBA), Hafiz Lutaf Ullah, chief patron Pak Telecom Lines Staff Union, Ammad Ulhasan Qureshi secretary general Pak Telecom Labour Union, Tariq Gondal chairman Pak Telecom company line staff union, Malik Habib Ur Rehamn secretary general Pak Telecome Mazdoor Dost Union, Ghulan Sabir Butt chairman Pak telecom workers Union speaking jointly at the press conference told the press that there were 66000 workers in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) when it was privatized in 2005. 40,000 workers lost their job in 2008 and now the PTCL management wants to kick another 16000 out of job. If succeeded, the PTCL will be reduced to an institution employing less than 10,000 workers.  

The telecommunication workers leaders said that this hurriedly planned VSS is because the Etisalat has to pay at least 6 Billion Rupees to the workers as a result of some of the Supreme Court and Islamabad High court decisions in favor of the workers. Under the announced VSS, a workers offered this scheme will get a minimum of 850,000 Rupees ($ 9040), however, under such a scheme, a workers should get 3,700,000 Rupees  ($v 39,360). They said that the company is fiddling with the figures. They also said that this scheme if very discriminatory as it is offered to only 16000 workers instead of all 26000 workers.

They said that the scheme is mainly mean for the manual workers that mean poor of the poorest. It is aiming at the lowest paid workers. The labour leaders rejected this scheme and announced a movement to stop this anti workers scheme. They appealed to the PTCL workers not to opt for the scheme.

They demanded the renationalization of PTCL and said that the privaisation of this important institution of the state has been a bad dream for all the workers and people of Pakistan. The privatization of the PTCL has not improved the quality of the services however; it has increased a price of all the services provided to the people of Pakistan. The Etisalat has not even paid the amount of the sale of PTCL and it is still to pay at least 800 million dollars out of 2.05 billion dollars. The comapny is blackmailing the government of Pakistan to hand over all the assets of the company while they only hold 26 percent of the total shares of PTCL.

The press conference was the beginning of the campaign to stop the VSS, the labour leaders announced of holding public meetings and blockade of the company after Ramazan.