Salary controversy: Civil aviation officers hold nationwide protests

CAA staged protests to press government to approve a revision in their salary scale.

KARACHI:

The Civil Aviation Officers Association Pakistan on Wednesday staged protests for a few hours at all major airports of the country to press the government to approve a revision in their salary scale.

As a follow-up, the officers have planned sit-ins at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) headquarters on Thursday (today) to continue their series of protests.

Civil Aviation Officers Association Pakistan President Ghulam Mustafa Mirani, while talking to The Express Tribune by phone, said the protest drive would continue until the government met their demands.

On Wednesday, protest started at 11am at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and continued for at least two hours. Some 800 officers from Karachi and Hyderabad training centres took part in the protest, Mirani said.

He added that similar protests were also staged at Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad airports in which radar operators and air traffic controllers also participated. “We have negotiated the matter with the government, but no development has been seen so far,” he said, adding that they were hopeful the government will take notice of the problems.

The CAA officers are pressing the government to increase their salaries.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2011.