Pakistan: Government clamps down on telecom protesters

LAST WEEKEND, the Pakistani government started a crackdown against
telecommunications workers, following the refusal of the nine
union-strong Action Committee to be bullied into privatisation.

Khalid Bhatti, national organiser, Trade Union Rights Campaign,
Pakistan

Over 400 telecommunication workers have been arrested by police.
Paramilitary police forces have raided the homes of union leaders and
arrested the relatives of union leaders. This is reminiscent of the
tactics of the US army who take relatives as hostages when they raid
houses in Iraq.

Yesterday 29 trade union activists were sacked from PTCL, including
Haji Khan Bhatti (President Company Lines Staff Union) and Malik Maqbool
Hussain (Secretary General Lines Staff Union) and Tanveer Shah for their
role in the strike.

This brutal action follows the unilateral government restart of the
privatisation process on 18 June and the deployment of the military to
take over the running of the telephone exchanges. This restart is in
complete disregard of the agreement signed by the government which led
to a suspension of the strike on 4 June where they promised the
indefinite postponement of privatisation.

In effect, this is a lock-out of the workforce. All workers from
grades 1-16 in the industry are barred from entering the
telecommunications depots, although management is now allowing workers
who are prepared to accept their plans for the industry to come to work.

However, the mood of the workers is solid. They have refused to
accept a deal on pay and conditions which the managing director of
Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL) offered in the last
couple of days. The value of the new package went up from Rs3.5 billion
to Rs5 billion but workers refused to budge on agreeing to these
enticements to accept privatisation.

Representatives of the Action Committee have demanded that the
government withdraws its decision to restart the privatisation process
or face the shut-down of the telecommunications system from 15 June.

In Quetta, Balochistan, telecommunication workers have already taken
action against the fibre optic link which is the backbone for much of
the system in the province. There are also signs of some frictions
within the state in Pakistan over the question of the strike.

It is vital that the government and management are flooded with
letters of protest. They will have an effect in holding back the
government from making vicious attacks against the telecommunication
workers.