Bilawal, Hammad exchange blows over sacking of 4,500 PSM workers

PPP chief vows to bring sacked employees back to work; PTI minister blames PPP, PML-N for PSM closure

Following the federal government's decision to lay off 4,500 employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Saturday said the incumbent prime minister should be sacked and not the workers.

In a tweet, the leader vowed to return 'each and every' sacked employee back to work, adding that the land of this 'historical industrial asset belongs to the people of Sindh'.

Calling the government's move "economic murder," Bilawal said PPP will not let the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) get away with taking such a step.

 

The heartless government’s sacked 4500 workers of Pakistan Steel mills. PPP will return each & everyone back to work. The land of this historical industrial asset belongs to the people of Sindh, we will not let the PTI get away with this economic murder. Sack Imran not workers.

— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) November 28, 2020

Earlier, the country’s biggest industrial complex – the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) – laid off over 4,500 of its employees.

The employees – 4,544 in total – were fired in the wake of an emergency meeting chaired by the PSM chief executive officer (CEO) at the CEO Secretariat. According to sources, the management has started the process of sending termination letters to the residential addresses of the sacked employees.

In June, the PTI led federal government had decided to terminate all 9,350 PSM employees, taking a giant but politically difficult step to stop years long hemorrhaging instead of reviving the industrial unit.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on June 3 also approved to give the employees due monetary benefits along with one month salary that would cost the exchequer Rs18 billion to Rs19.7 billion. On an average, every sacked employee was estimated to receive Rs2.3 million.

According to a PSM spokesperson, the sacked employees belong to Group 2, 3 and 4 and include junior officers, assistant managers, deputy managers, managers, SEDGM and DCO employees.

However, teachers and non-teaching staff of PSM schools and colleges; drivers, firemen, fire tenders operators, public health staff, security guards and watchmen, gardeners, paramedical staff, kitchen staff, office staff and workers of all departments of finance directorate are still on job.

Hammad blames PPP, PML-N for PSM closure

Responding to Bilawal's tweet, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, said that the operational capacity of PSM was reduced to 40 per cent during the tenure of PPP government and subsequently, it registered a loss of around Rs100 billion.

"PPP during its tenure had inducted thousands of employees in the [steel] mills beyond its capacity," he said and added that during the PML-N government the operational capacity was further reduced from 40 per cent to 6 per cent, which he said led to PSM closure in 2015.

The minister said the political parties which were responsible for turning the PSM into a loss-making entity were now playing politics on the issue. However, the government had to take decision to shut the PSM in the “larger interest of the country”.

He said the government had to pay Rs35 billion in salaries to employees of the closed mill and Rs20 billion in pensions to retirees, bringing the total amount to Rs55 billion.

In addition, he said that PSM had Rs230 billion debt liabilities and was inflicting losses of Rs15-20 billion annually, while Rs750 million were being paid to employees in salaries.

Moreover, Rs92 billion were spent on bailout packages of the mill, the industries minister added.

Hammad said the government wanted to make PSM a profit-earning organisation by involving private sector and by reducing the staff.

He said the government would hire a financial advisor, through transparent bidding process, with whose consultation the Privatisation Commission would proceed forward to bring the PSM under private sector management.

Initially, he said, around 4,500 workers out of 9,500 would be laid off in the first phase, followed by next phase that would result in laying off of 95 employees. Each employee would get an amount ranging from Rs2 million to Rs3 million.

"The total dues to be paid have been estimated at around Rs10 billion which would be paid timely," he added.

He was of the view that had the decision been taken at appropriate time, billions of rupees would have been saved and utilised in development funding.

The minister said that managing business was not the government's job, hence the PSM would be managed by the private sector with proper technology, management and adequate manpower.

He said that with these measures, the private management would turn the PSM from loss-making organisation into a profit-earning one.

He said that out of 19,000 acres of land owned by the PSM, 13,000 would be leased to bear the expenditures.