KARACHI: Workers and labour leaders called a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday to explain to the media the circumstances that led to the Pakistan Steel Mills’ (PSM) current state where labour laws had “completely been violated” to dismiss its 9,350 workers.
They reminded that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf came to power with a promise to turn the PSM into a profitable entity but over the past 22 months it had “not [made] a single serious attempt” to run the mills.
It was also the ‘incompetence’ of this government that it did not appoint a CEO for the Steel Mills during this time. Neither did it appoint a director of finance which proved that they were determined to destroy this most important institution, they claimed.
Valuable scrap being stolen
Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) pointed out that the government had set up a board of directors for the Steel Mills, but not a single member of it was related to the steel industry or had any technical ability for that matter. “The chairman of the PSM is a man who happens to be an American citizen. There are even today more than 16 billion finished slabs in PSM stores along with very valuable scrap, which is being stolen day by day,” he claimed.
He further said that the government had violated prevailing labour laws by unilaterally announcing the dismissal of 9,350 workers without due process. “The ministry of industry, under pressure, forced the ‘rubber stamp’ Board of Directors to decide the dismissal of the workers. There was no notice issued to the workers in this regard. Neither was any reply sought from them. It is illegal under labour laws to close a company without declaring it bankrupt,” he said.
‘It is illegal under labour laws to close a company without declaring it bankrupt’
Steel import ‘mafia’
Mr Mansoor added that, unfortunately, like the previous governments, the PTI government had also bowed to the steel import mafia and the ‘Steel Mills Consortium’ that once tried to buy the mills for pennies. “That mafia has once again become active with the support of some influential cabinet ministers and advisers, who want to take over the Steel Mills,” he said.
Akbar Narejo, convener Pakistan Steel Trade Union Alliance, disclosed that Abdul Jabbar Memon, chairman of the Steel Mills wrote a letter to the federal government on March 18, 2019 with the approval of the board of directors, to request the appointment of a CEO and technical director to revive the mills. “The letter also mentioned that some influential people in the government and bureaucracy were putting hurdles in the way of the smooth functioning of the PSM. As a response to the letter, Razzaq Dawood, adviser to the Prime Minister, had terminated Abdul Jabbar Memon from the post of chairman on March 28, 2019,” he said.
He said that the Steel Mills, which was a profitable company until 2008, had been the victim of conspiracies for many years.
“The Steel Mills was planned to be sold for Rs21 billion at a time when its stores had Rs12bn worth of finished goods, its account had Rs11bn, while 19,000 acres of Steel Town land with 850 acres and 650 acres of unutilised land were the additional assets. The Supreme Court of Pakistan took a suo motu action in 2009 about the irregularities and scams in the Steel Mills which is still pending in court,” he said.
Hameedullah of the People’s Workers Union said that according to the Supreme Court’s decision on irregularities in the process of the privatisation of the Steel Mills, it was ordered that it will be discussed in the Council of Common Interests before any action could be taken in connection with the PSM. “The government had criminally neglected the decisions of the Supreme Court and its constitutional responsibilities,” he said.
Saghir Hussain of the Pakistan Progressive Labour Union said that the incompetence of the governments and the “mafia’s” interest in the Steel Mills were unable to give any justification of embezzlement of Rs52bn in provident fund (PF), gratuity and other funds of the existing employees and Rs21bn accumulated in the same category of retired employees. “The management of Steel Mills has been deducting contribution in respect of Employees Old Age Benefits Institute (EOBI), PF from the salaries of the workers since 2011 but nothing is being said about where the money is going,” he said.
Workers and their representatives at the press conference appealed to all progressive, democratic and pro-people forces to raise their voice in parliament and outside of parliament against the dismissal of workers and the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills as it was a truly federal public entity where workers from all provinces were employed.
Workers’ demands
They demanded that all fired workers of the Pakistan Steel Mills were restored. The privatisation of the PSM and 43 other public enterprises to ‘appease’ the IMF be stopped immediately. An independent and empowered commission be formed to determine those responsible for the destruction of the PSM and its report be prepared and made public in due course.
One-time government grant is provided to re-enable the PSM for production and ensure that it is run in consultation with experts and all stakeholders. The Russian government’s offer of assistance to restart the PSM should be seriously considered.
The Sindh government is a key stakeholder of the PSM and it should raise this issue formally in the CCI.
Immediate investigation be carried out into the misappropriation of funds deposited by Steel Mill employees under gratuity, provident fund and EOBI.
Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2020
