ISLAMABAD, May 27: The workers of Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) have jammed the phone network of newspaper offices at Zero Point since Wednesday night, as union leaders on Friday continued their occupation of the company headquarters and renewed their threat to jam the entire network if the company’s privatization was not cancelled.

About 2,000 workers of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are still on the headquarters premises, with the union leaders delivering fiery speeches after short intervals.

A member of the PTCL Unions Action Committee, Malik Maqbool, told Dawn that the three-hour talks between the management and the workers on Friday afternoon ended into a deadlock. He said the management was not willing to change its stand.

He said Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Leghari had told the union leaders that he would hold talks with them only after they had called off the strike.

The union leaders would end the protest only after the government immediately withdrew its decision to privatize the company, he said.

He said the management was responsible for the inconvenience suffered by the customers in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, PTCL spokesperson told Dawn that the deadlock would be over late in the night, as the management had accepted some of the demands of the workers.

An official announcement issued here stated that the management was busy convincing the workers that privatisation of the company was in the interest of employees, customers and the company.

The incentive package after privatization would be effective for all cadres (BPS 1 to BPS 15) who had worked for over 20 years.

The announcement stated that the PTCL administration was working on revising the pay scales of employees and their medical as well as leave incentives in consultation with different employees unions. Jobs would be offered to one family member of any PTCL employee who had died.

In order to speed up the promotion process, the authorities have tendered powers to general managers all over the country to make promotions from BPS 1-15 without contacting the headquarters.