MANSEHRA, Oct 5: Pakistan Telecommunication Company employees observed a strike from 10am till noon in the district on Tuesday to press their demands. The employees wore black armbands as a mark of protest.

The strike was observed by all the four PTCL Employees Union groups. A spokesman for the union told newsmen that the token strike would continue till Oct 14 and the employees would observe an indefinite strike from Oct 15 if their demands were not accepted.

He said that the PTCL authorities had denied the employees their union rights and stopped the elected body of the employees from performing its functions by obtaining a stay order from the Supreme Court.

He said that the PTCL chief had refused to implement directives of the prime minister regarding 15 per cent raise. He said it appeared that the PTCL chief was more powerful than the prime minister.

He said higher officers appointed on contract in the PTCL were receiving millions of rupees and other perks and privileges but they had turned a deaf ear to the plight of the lower staff.

He said more than 8,000 workers employed on daily wages were awaiting confirmation of their services but the authorities had started appointing more workers on a daily-wage basis.

The spokesman said the charter of demands presented by the union included demands for improvement of healthcare facilities, implementation of the prime minister's directives for raise in salaries, confirmation of the services of the daily-wage workers and allocation of service quota for the children of employees.