News

Wednesday 30 July, a two week long strike and protest movement by telecom workers in Pakistan was called off. The management accepted the strikes’ main demands and signed an agreement with the United Workers Alliance and started to implement it immediately.



The agreement foresees the immediate increase in the wages by 35%. A committee will be formed to review pay scales and to prepare new pay scales. 8,000 contract (NPCG) workers have been confirmed (‘regularized’) and will also get a 35% pay increase. These workers will also get all the concessions and benefits given to other telecom workers. In total, the workers won 13 concessions and benefits.

This is a significant victory for telecom workers. This struggle, once again, proved that workers can win and defend concessions and benefits through mass struggles. Telecom workers fought this battle in a very difficult conditions and circumstances. The trade union movement in Pakistan is very weak and there are few industrial struggles taking place. Moreover, the union leadership was not ready to conduct a struggle. The strike was isolated and not very well organized.

This victory will give more confidence and courage to telecom workers, including for future struggles they will have to wage. This victory must be used to better organize the trade union movement in the telecom sector. The honest and fighting leaders and activists must form a new fighting and democratic union in the telecom sector (PTCL), to win further gains. The formation of the United Workers Alliance, and the workers’ unity shown in struggle during this strike, showed strong leadership and a union activist base really prepared to fight.