Daily Times

As was expected, the laid off workers of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) have reacted strongly and have won the support of the Pakistan People’s Party and other opposition parties in their protest against the government. Up to 4,500 officials of the PSM woke up on Friday only to receive their termination letters, which they would have been expecting for the last one year when the government tagged the PSM for privatization. The PSM has been in huge losses for years and has frustrated several privatization or sell-off bids by successive governments. Who should be blamed for the failure of the PSM – its workers or governments? The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in its election manifesto promised rehabilitation of all sick units and not their privatization, and so far it has failed to deliver, at least, on this front. Not to forget election speeches are often hyperbolic and are aimed to entice voters. Fast forward to the third year of the government, we have seen some serious efforts by the government to ‘reform’ the sick units. In the days to come, more sacking of workers is expected along the lines of recommendations by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Ishrat Husain. The lay-off spree shows that the government may want to right size the PSM and give it a try under governmental control. If that does not work, the unit might be put on the market. Public-private partnership is another option on the table.

Regardless of a complete flip-flop of the government by not making the PSM a profitable unit in its first two years of the tenure, the measures to cut losses through retrenchment and lay-off can hardly be opposed. No doubt, the PSM has been a huge financial liability consuming billions every year to keep the staff intact for doing nothing. Those at the helm of the affairs should, however, lay off non-productive staff or those who were recruited on political grounds. Retrenchments and sacking of workers are painful in the days of economic slump when there is hardly any job in the market. Both the opposition and the government should put plans for the welfare of the sacked workers. Contrary to this, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar have triggered a war of words on the issue. Of course, both sides want to win mileage out of the misery of the sacked workers, but this should end up in something positive.*