THE end of the PIA strike is a moment of relief for everyone, not least the government.
The latter might be tempted to think that it has triumphed and crushed the workers’ protest, but such a feeling would be misplaced.
As for the workers, while they demonstrated their ability to bring airline operations to a standstill, they were not able to win significant concessions from the government, at least none that have been made public.
This is not surprising considering they had no exit plan as such, no demands that could be credibly met without having grave ramifications for the larger economy. With no clear road map about what to do afterwards, the workers’ decision to end the strike was not entirely unexpected.
But the strike has also put PIA employees at the centre of a national conversation, a debate about public-sector enterprises and what path forward is best to bring them out of their serious difficulties. On that front the workers can still strike out, if they have the capacity.
The union leadership should now acknowledge that overstaffing is a problem at PIA. It may not be the biggest problem and is certainly not the only one, but it is indeed a challenge, and they should present a viable plan for addressing it.
Simply demanding that the privatisation agenda be abandoned is not going to win them any battles. The government should also resist any temptation to overreach.
Protests by workers of the sort that we have just witnessed have not been seen in Pakistan in many years, and there still exists the possibility of a resurgence. This is a moment to consolidate and negotiate for both parties, and it should be utilised as such.
The entire episode, particularly the tragic deaths, was avoidable and the product of mismanagement by the government, and the government would be making a mistake if it were to start behaving like a conquering army at this stage.
The privatisation agenda outlined by it is an ambitious but delicate affair; it also lies at the heart of the structural reforms that the government is trying to undertake.
The promises made to the workers that their grievances will be given an audience, should be upheld, and both parties should sit down and decide on the path to rationalise the staffing of PIA.
Many amongst the airline’s staff may need to be moved to a surplus pool, and agreements should be in place that the unions will cooperate with the future management in return for a stable and orderly rationalisation of the human resource requirement of PIA.
Both government and the unions need to realise that they are not the primary stakeholders in the airline. It is the customers, and all decisions should prioritise the customer experience.
The matter remains sensitive, and due care should be taken to put the recent disruptions firmly in the past.
Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2016