Pakistan Telecom workers: Strike ends but opposition to privatisation continues

FOLLOWING ALMOST three weeks of struggle against privatisation most
Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL) workers have returned to work. This
was after the national leaders of the Employees’ Union, one of the
unions in the nine-union strong Action Committee, signed a deal with the
government.

The semi-military government, under ferocious international pressure
from its imperialist backers, was desperate to break the workers’
opposition to privatisation fearing that it could undermine the regime’s
whole economic policy. They employed a combination of concessions and
repression.

The concessions were quite extensive, including a 30% wage increase,
no redundancies for two years for PTCL workers employed before 1992,
quotas for the children of retired PTCL workers and leave cash payments
of £500-600 per worker. However, in return the government was demanding
that the trade unions not only end this particular struggle against
privatisation but sign a deal not to further oppose privatisation.

The Action Committee refused to give up its opposition to
privatisation and on 11 June Musharraf’s regime deployed military units
to guard PTCL installations and ordered widespread arrests of trade
unionists. Over 1,100, mainly local, trade unionists were rapidly
jailed. Three days later the Employees’ Union leaders signed a deal with
the government and, as one of the largest unions in the PTCL,
effectively split the workforce.

Against this background the government announced that it had decided
to sell the management rights and a 26% stake in the PTCL to Etisalat,
the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned telecoms company. But Etisalat has
said that it will not finalise the purchase until the unions drop their
opposition to privatisation.

The Action Committee is still negotiating with the government but is
refusing to sign a deal that includes acceptance of PTCL privatisation.
Furthermore, there is still the issue that repression must be stopped.
While the local trade unionists who were arrested have been released, up
to 15 trade union leaders are still being detained and others, fearful
that they could be arrested, are in hiding.

The PTCL workers’ struggle has attracted widespread support and, even
though work has resumed, there still remains large scale opposition to
privatisation. Within the Employees Union there is much opposition to
their national leadership deal with the government. The local regional
leaderships in Balochistan, interior Sindh and Karachi have announced
that they are breaking away. Employees’ Union leaders have not been able
to hold workplace meetings to justify their position.

Activists are drawing conclusions from this struggle and drawing up
plans to resist any attacks that the new Etisalat management attempt to
make and to oppose any further privatisation. At the same time they are
continuing to demand the renationalisation of all privatised industries,
this time under workers’ control and management.

Protests need to be continued to demand that all PTCL trade
unionists are released from detention and that no further repressive
measures are used against the telecoms workers.

Protests

ON 15 JUNE protests took place in several European countries in
solidarity with the Pakistan telecom workers who were suffering arrests
and victimisation for fighting the government’s privatisation plans.

The protests were organised by the Committee for a Workers
International (CWI – the socialist international organisation to which
the Socialist Party is affiliated) after requests for solidarity from
the Trade Union Rights Campaign in Pakistan.

In response, Pakistan embassies and consulates were picketed,
including the embassy in Dublin where there was a well-attended
lunchtime picket. A delegation led by Joe Higgins, Socialist Party TD
(MP), Socialist Party councillor Ruth Coppinger and Socialist Youth
representative, Paul Murphy met the ambassador.

Joe strongly protested the brutal methods employed by the regime and
warned the ambassador that if the intimidation and arrests continued the
Socialist Party would step up its campaign. Joe explained that he
intended to raise the issue with the Taoiseach (Irish PM) who is due to
attend an upcoming meeting of EU leaders, where relations with Pakistan
are to be discussed.

In London, a 40-strong lobby outside the Pakistan High Commission
included Janice Godrich, PCS president (the main civil service trade
union), John McDonnell, Labour MP, and Glenn Kelly, executive member of
UNISON (the largest public sector union in Britain).

Janice Godrich and John McDonnell spoke to the first secretary to the
high commissioner and presented a protest letter demanding an end to the
sacking of trade unionists and an end to the repression.