HRCP condemns retrenchment of 4,500 PSM workers

ISLAMABAD: Human rights commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemns retrenchment of 4544 Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) workers on Sunday.

Scapegoating them for the failures of successive managements reflects the anti-poor policies of the government. Amid price hikes and rising unemployment, such decisions exacerbate the plight of ordinary citizens. Meanwhile, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) Sunday strongly condemned retrenchment of 4,500 employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).

“It clearly indicates that the current government is following anti-worker policies and does not believe in protection of workers’ rights and creation of new job opportunities in the country,” said a press statement.

PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi said in the joint statement that since 2018, hundreds and thousands of people had been retrenched in different sectors of the economy including the media and the public sector entities.

They said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, led by Prime Minster Imran Khan, was busy in creation of an environment which was leading to closure of businesses and companies. “We urge the federal government to show some degree of responsibility towards the working classes by protecting their jobs and rights, besides creation of new job opportunities,” the statement added.

The PFUJ leadership said they would resist such trends of anti-worker policies.

“There was an urgent need for evolving a joint strategy by all stake-holders for resisting the anti-worker policies of the PTI government,” they said.