One thousand four hundred workers reinstated as result of struggle
Fourteen hundred daily wage and contract postal workers have won their battle against the postal authorities who had sacked these workers without any legal procedure or prior notice. The sacked workers took legal action in the courts against their sacking.
During the case, representatives of the postal authorities were unable to explain the reasons for the sackings. During this battle postal workers also organised many protests and demonstrations against the sackings.
The government, fearing the consequences of this outrageous attack on workers’ rights and that protest action could escalate, intervened and announced the reinstatement of sacked workers. This is an important victory for the postal workers who were brutally repressed by the postal authorities headed by a retired General. More than 2000 trade union activists and members were sacked by this General in last 6 years. He also banned trade union activities in Post Offices. Postal union leader and Trade Union Rights Campaign Pakistan (TURCP) Chairman, Faizal Abbas Shah was also sacked by the postal authorities as a result of his trade union activity.
TURCP members were involved in this struggle from the beginning and gave sacked workers advice on how to take up a legal battle alongside protest action. We took part in all the protest demonstrations organised by the sacked workers. The TURCP also organized solidarity meetings in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in which the main public sector unions participated. TURCP members are still campaigning for all the daily wage and contract workers, who in reality have been working as casual labour for years, to be given full rights and permanent contracts.
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