PTCL workers’ strike puts over 10,000 phones to sleep
ISLAMABAD: More than 10,000 telephone lines remain dead in the Islamabad and Rawalpindi region as a strike by PTCL employees against the management for not increasing their salaries in accordance with the government decision entered fourth day.
“The government has raised the salaries of employees by 50 per cent of the running basic, whereas the PTCL management has given a raise of 50 per cent of the initial basic in the year 2008,” said Nadeem Haider, a union leader.
Due to the strike, work at almost all the 15 major exchanges in the region remains at a standstill and the complaints are not being addressed, he added.
Sources in the PTCL said 70,000 to 80,000 telephone lines were out of order in the country that included around 30,000 in Karachi, 5,000 in rest of Sindh; 20,000 in Lahore, 10,000 in northern Punjab, 10,000 in southern Punjab and some 3,000 in Balochistan.
The PTCL system has been severely damaged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to floods but the rehabilitation works has not started there due to various reasons, including workers’ strike.
Another union leader, Malik Habib said the management was only planning to quell the demand of the employees whereas the expenditures of top management were unimaginable.
“We have been informed that HR department has issued directives to the departmental heads not to issue the Eid bonus and other perks of the striking employees,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) said the company had increased staff salaries based on their performances.
It said they were considering issuing further incentives in terms of salary increase to its employees based upon the performance for the half year ending December 2010 and June 2011.
It said the Eid bonus had also been announced for all employees.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/19/2010
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