Jobs of ‘unruly’ PIA employees on the line

ISLAMABAD:

The government is set to start sacking from Monday the PIA employees who spearheaded a crippling, eight-day strike at the national carrier, which reportedly caused a loss of over Rs5 billion to the national exchequer.

The PIA management has already served show-cause notices on 167 ‘unruly’ employees, including some top leaders of the Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE) who led the February 2-9 strike.



The process has apparently already begun with service contracts of 11 ad-hoc employees cancelled through their recruiting agency two days ago.

The permanent employees, however, have been given 72 hours to explain their position to the management, which will start taking punitive action from Monday, insiders told The Express Tribune.

The government has directed the PIA management to terminate the services of those employees who furnish unsatisfactory replies. The deadline to respond expires Sunday evening (today).

The PIA claims the strike resulted in cancellation of 850 international and domestic flights, causing the national flag carrier losses of more than Rs5 billion besides damaging the airline’s reputation. These losses are in addition to the expenditures the PIA had to bear for accommodating the waiting passengers in hotels during the chaos and payments to other airlines to fly its passengers. “We have clear directives from the highest level not to succumb to any political pressure and get rid of the troublemakers,” a top official of the PIA management told reporters on Saturday.

“If they go to courts for stay orders, we have a strategy in place to deal with that as well,” he said without elaborating. “Some [employees] have already submitted their replies. We will examine their cases. There will be cries of victimisation but mafias will not be spared.”

Insiders said the management would also take up the cases of alleged corruption and mafia-style dealings within the airline.

Action is also expected against the ringleaders not letting the management introduce the automated integration management system. Certain employees are accused of assigning duties of airhostesses and flight stewards by taking bribes. There is another mafia that runs a business of advance booking of seats.

Officials say the PIA has also terminated another 302 employees from the airline for holding fake degrees.

Sharing details of the meetings of the PIA union leaders with the finance minister and the prime minister before they went on strike, PIA officials claimed the premier had assured these employees the government was ready to give them time if they could revive the ailing airline.

The JACPIAE delegation, they said, expressed satisfaction during their meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, but changed its position later. The officials said the involvement of political parties in the strike was also being investigated, as the strike started a day after the arrest of Lyari kingpin Uzair Jan Baloch.

Compensation package

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced on Saturday a financial assistance package of Rs2.5 million each for the families of the two deceased PIA employees. The men were killed in ‘mysterious firing’ on the first day of the strike in Karachi. Each of the injured will get Rs500,000 in compensation.

The premier termed the loss of lives not only the loss of their families but also of the national carrier, according to a statement issued by his office.



PM Nawaz also announced one job each for the families of the deceased, according to their qualifications. “The government will continue investigations to find out those responsible for the murder of the PIA employees,” he added. “The families will be kept informed about the progress made in the inquiry.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2016.