ISLAMABAD, March 1: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto has condemned the sacking of nearly 2,000 employees of Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTBL) and demanded their immediate reinstatement.
“The decision of the military regime to sack low-paid employees is most unfortunate, insensitive and anti-poor and is condemned by the PPP,” Ms Bhutto said in a statement issued here on Thursday.
She said the PPP considered it most callous treatment of the employees economically, when the poor and jobless were committing economic suicides.
She said the PPP was with the dismissed employees of ZTBL and would strive to reinstate them in their jobs. She said the economic and employment policies of the government were anti-poor and anti-low paid employees and aimed to concentrate wealth and financial power in the hands of a few.
“The policies of the regime have crushed the middle and working classes of Pakistan. On the one hand the regime has failed to check inflation and price hike and creating new job opportunities and on the other it was sacking low-paid employees to make room for its cronies and serving and retired persons of the military,” she added.
PPI ADDS: A number of trade unions and left wing political organisations have expressed solidarity with the workers of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank and vowed to resist the government’s decision to abolish all clerical staff cadre affecting almost 2,000 workers.
A delegation of trade unionists and political activists visited the protesting workers at ZTBL headquarters and agreed to participate in a protest to be held outside Parliament House on March 5.
Amongst those present on the occasion were Azam Janjua of the Socialist Movement Pakistan, Aasim Sajjad of the People’s Rights Movement, Nazir Javed of the PWD, Zahoor Khan of the Railways Workers Union, Shahid Zaheer of the Trade Union Rights Campaign and others.
Speaking to the delegation, ZTBL CBA general secretary Iqbal Khattak said the manner in which the ZTBL workers were informed of their retrenchment through an advertisement in the press reflected the incredible contempt that the government feels towards the working class.
He said it was a disgrace that there was no attempt to engage the workers in a meaningful dialogue or forewarn them in any way of the administration’s intentions.
The delegation representatives said the downsizing policy of the government reflected the urgent need for workers in all state enterprises to support one another in their efforts to protect their basic freedom.
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