Court issues notices in petition against PSO

Long-serving contract employees want their services regularized.

KARACHI: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued notices to Pakistan State Oil for hearing of a petition on February 7 filed by long-serving contract employees against the company.

Before issuing the order on Tuesday, the bench comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Imam Bux Baloch heard initial arguments from Shoua-un-Nabi advocate, counsel for petitioners Ghulam Ali and 15 other employees of PSO.

The petitioners said they had been serving on contract for 15 to 16 years and had been denied confirmation of the jobs despite clear directives and policy of the federal government.

In this connection, they cited the examples of Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines and others, where they said services of all contract employees were being regularised.

According to the petitioners, they are serving at the apron of airport, a sensitive area, and refill jet fuel in aircraft without any complaint. Though they were shown as regular full-time employees in credentials to the security clearing departments, in all other matters they were treated as contract employees having no benefits.

This was sheer discrimination as contract employees in organisations running in loss were being regularised while in PSO, which is profitable, the regularisation was denied, the petitioners said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2012.