PAKISTAN: Army smashes anti-privatisation strike

On the night of June 11, General Pervez Musharraf's military regime sent army and paramilitary units to occupy important buildings and installations of PTLC, Pakistan's 88%-state-owned telco, arresting hundreds of striking workers in the process. The workers were striking to prevent the privatisation of the telco, and had managed to delay it from June 10 to June 18. Then, on June 14, PTLC announced that management and the leaders of PTCL Telecom Employees Union, the largest of the nine unions forming PTCL Action Committee, had reached an agreement to end the strike. The agreement increased workers' pay by 35% and other benefits in exchange for the union dropping its opposition to PTCL's privatisation. The other unions at PTCL have rejected the deal.

From Green Left Weekly, June 22, 2005.

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From GLW issue 630