Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation’s employees to get 50pc raise
ISLAMABAD, The employees of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) on Monday won their fight for their rights when Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira assured that they would get 50 per cent raise in their salaries within a week.
Around 5,000 regular and unspecified number of daily wage and contractual employees of some 70 radio stations will benefit from the raise.
The employees have been fighting for their rights for the last two months and their struggle culminated on a day-long sit-in outside PM secretariat in the Red Zone on Monday.
A huge police force was deployed at the main gates of PM Secretariat which resorted to baton charge when some of the protesting employees tried to enter the secretarial.
A couple of anti personnel vehicles along with police buses were parked on one side of the road to block march of the protesters towards PM secretariat, Supreme Court building and Parliament House.
The capital administration after allowing the sit-in for few hours issued ultimatum to the protesting employees to leave the place or face massive arrests which forced them to disperse.
Later, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira came to the PBC headquarters and gave assurance to the protesting employees that they would get 50 per cent pay raise, as announced in the current budget for public sector, within a week.
The protesting employees were demanding immediate payment of 50 per cent raise from July, 1, 2010 along with Rs7,000 minimum salary to the manual workers of the corporation and 20 per cent raise in pension.
Mr Kaira said despite financial constraints the government would fulfill the demand of the PBC employees.
The minister said that he had discussed their issues with the Finance Ministry which had agreed to pay the raise from July1, 2010 to PBC employees within seven days.
Mr Kaira also assured that the issue of minimum wages of Rs7,000 would also be sorted out.
Kaira said: “peaceful struggle is a democratic right of the PBC employees which they have availed and the PPP government has always struggled to safeguard the interests and rights of the workers.”
Source: Dawn
Date:1/25/2011
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