Labour leaders demand halting privatisation of PSM, 43 other entities

Trade union leaders said on Thursday the “incompetent” government was determined to destroy the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) as it did not appoint a CEO and a finance director for the country’s most important institution during the period.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation said that the government had set up a “Board of Directors” for the PSM and none of them had been related to the steel industry nor did they have any technical ability.

“The PSM’s chairman is a man who is an American citizen and his interests are linked to the mafia that destroyed the steel mills. Even today there were more than 16 billion finished slabs in PSM stores and there was very valuable scrap, which was being stolen day by day,” Mansoor said.

He said that the government had violated the prevailing labour laws by unilaterally announcing the dismissals of 9,350 workers without due process.

“The Ministry of Industry, under pressure, forced the rubber-stamp board of directors to decide the dismissal of the workers, and then sought cabinet approval,” he said. “No notice was issued to the workers in this regard and no reply was sought from them. It was illegal under labour laws to close a company without declaring it bankrupt.”

Mansoor said that unfortunately, like previous governments, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government had also bowed to the steel import mafia and the “Steel Mills Consortium” that once tried to buy the steel mills for pennies, had once again become active and had had the support of some influential cabinet ministers and advisers.

Akbar Narejo, convener of the Pakistan Steel Trade Union Alliance, said Abdul Jabbar Memon, chairmen of the Steel Mills, had written a letter to the federal government on March 18, 2019 with approval of the board of directors, and requested the appointment of a CEO and a technical director to start the mills. The letter also mentioned that some influential persons in the government and bureaucracy were hurdles in the way of the smooth functioning of the PSM. In response to the letter, an adviser to the PM had terminated Memon from the post of the chairman on March 28, 2019.

He said the PSM, which had been a for-profit company till 2008, had been a victim of conspiracies for many years.

“The PSM was planned to be sold for Rs21 billion at a time when its stores had Rs12 billion worth of finished goods, Rs11 billion in account, while 19,000 acres of land, Steel Town spread over 850 acres and 650 acres of unutilised land were additional assets,” he said.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken suo moto action in 2009 on the irregularities and scams in the steel mills, which was still pending in the court.

Hameedullah of the People’s Workers Union said that according to the apex court’s decision on irregularities in the process of the privatisation of steel mills, it was ordered that it be discussed in the “Council of Common Interests” before any action was taken in connection with the PSM. The government had criminally neglected the decisions of the Supreme Court and its constitutional responsibilities, he said.

Saghir Hussain of the Pakistan Progressive Labour Union said that given the incompetence of the governments and the mafia imposed on the steel mills, there was no justification for the embezzlement of the Rs52 billion of provident funds (PF), gratuity and other funds of the existing employees and Rs21 billion accumulated in the same category of retired employees.

The management of the Steel Mills had been deducting contributions in respect of Employees Old-Age Benefits Institute (EOBI) and PF from the salaries of the workers since 2011, but nothing was being said about where the money was going to, he added.

Through the press conference, the workers representatives’ appealed to all progressive, democratic and pro-people forces to raise their voices in the parliament and out of parliament against the dismissals of workers and decision to privatise the Pakistan Steel Mills as it was a truly federal public entity where workers from all provinces employed.

In the press conference, speakers demanded that the fired workers of the PSM should be restored and the privatisation of the PSM and 43 other public enterprises to appease the IMF should be stopped immediately.

They also demanded that an independent and empowered commission should be formed to determine those responsible for the destruction of the steel mills and its report should be prepared and made public in due course.

They further called for providing a one-time government grant to enable the steel mills to start production and ensure that the mills was run in consultation with experts and all stakeholders. The Russian government’s offer of assistance to restart the steel mills should be seriously considered, they said.

The Sindh government was a key stakeholder of the PSM and should raise this issue formally in the Council of Common Interests, they said. They also demanded carrying out an immediate investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds deposited by the Steel Mills employees under gratuity, PF and EOBI.

The speakers included Usman Baloch (veteran trade unionist), Zulfiqar Shah (joint director of PILER), Liaquat Ali Sahi (Democratic Workers Federation, State Bank of Pakistan), Ali Haider Gabol (Pakistan Steel labour union), Zehra Khan (Home-Based Women Workers Federation Pakistan), Naseem Haider (Employees Unity), Amjad Zardari (Youth Unity), and Abdul Haq Channa (trade union leader).