The plea, submitted at the NIRC Peshawar bench, blames the union for conducting illegal strikes and closing down Pesco offices on a recurring basis.
The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) has filed a writ petition with the National Industrial Relations Commissions (NIRC) against All Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Workers Union – the collective bargaining agent (CBA) at the company.
The plea, submitted at the NIRC Peshawar bench, blames the union for conducting illegal strikes and closing down Pesco offices on a recurring basis.
According to the company’s director general PR Shaukat Afzal, the NIRC has served a notice to CBA, asking officials to appear before the commission on April 24. It also declared the strikes and forceful closure of offices as illegal and barred the union from conducting strikes till further notice.
On the flipside, the CBA has called a meeting on April 5 to prepare ground for a response to Pesco’s move. Speaking to The Express Tribune, the union’s general secretary Mustajab Khan said protests are the legal and democratic right of electric workers. Strikes and demonstrations have long been a bone of contention between the trade union and company’s management. Only last month, workers took to the streets against Pesco’s board of directors for retracting their bonuses. Pesco offices remained closed across the province and the entire ordeal lasted for a week.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 2nd, 2015.
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