KARACHI: The Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) board has approved an increase of 15 percent in the salaries of PSM employees, as per the announcement made in the federal budget. The board has also directed the PSM chief executive officer (CEO) to assess whether the 50 percent rise in salaries, as announced in the federal budget 2010-11, would be feasible for the PSM or not.
The decision was made in the PSM board meeting held on October 7 in the wake of a letter written by PSM officers to the board drawing its attention towards the financial difficulties emerging in the aftermath of the announcement of the charter of demand, which was agreed and signed between the management and the mills’ labour union representatives, with effect from June 2008.
The PSM is bearing the extraordinary burden of Rs 59.365 million a month arising from the revised allowance for house rent, utilities and shift as well as a 15 percent allowance for the PSM workers. The letter said that a disparity has emerged in the allowances being paid to the workers and officers of the mills; the situation requires necessary consideration towards revision of the prevailing allowances for the officers.
The house rent allowance for the workers and lower staff has increased by more than 200 percent – from the pay group I to pay group VII – after the signing of the charter, while the PSM officers’ rent allowance was not increased. The letter further elaborated that a similar situation prevails with regard to conveyance, utilities and shift allowances that rose by more than 300 percent. The officers of the PSM have been deprived of an increase in these allowances for the last 28 months.
Earlier, the PSM management had constituted a committee to come up with recommendations to resolve the financial differences occurring after the implementation of the CBA agreement in 2008. However, the recommendations given by the committee were ineffectual and failed to generate a tangible solution.
