ISLAMABAD: The Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) has sacked 52 daily wage workers merely six months after their employment.

The affected employees told this reporter that they were shocked to know that their contracts had been terminated without any notice.

PCP Secretary K.D. Jalbani, when contacted, said the employees had been sacked because their services were not required anymore. They had been appointed as daily wage workers at a time when there was a need for more hands, he said.

He said a daily wage worker was appointed only for 89 days and his service could be terminated after the completion of this period.

When asked if these workers would be recruited again when a need arose, he said new staff would be appointed in that case.

However, the manager concerned had recommended to the managing director of the PCP that the contracts of the workers should be extended.

He said in a letter to the MD that the daily wager workers had been performing important duties and their services were still required.

A labour union leader said the dismissal of the workers had greatly affected printing work at the PCP and a private contractor had been hired to do the binding and printing works after their removal. He alleged that the removal of the workers had opened a way for kickbacks for the officials.

Union leaders and some of the sacked employees alleged that the printing charges at the PCP were higher than private printing firms. The PCP, on receiving printing and binding orders from government and private organisations, passed them on to private firms or contractors on lower rates, they alleged.

The sacked employees were being paid a paltry salary without any leave and allowance. If a worker faced an emergency or fell ill, his wages were deducted for the days he did not attend his duty.

Capital Development Authority Mazdoor Union secretary general Chaudhry Yasin termed the dismissal illegal. He said an employee who had worked for 90 days in any government organisation was considered as a permanent employee and could not be removed.

Employees working on daily wages had rights and they could not be dismissed without a reason or notice, he said. There were court judgements in this regard and it was the government’s responsibility to provide jobs to people, he said.

He demanded that the government intervene and immediately reinstate the sacked workers.

Published in Dawn November 8th, 2016