KESC’s sacked workers may get more company

While sacking over 5,000 of its employees during the past two years, the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) is likely to show the door to another 2,000 employees in the near future.
Moving towards its object to reducing the number of “non-core” employees, the power company’s management has short-listed two thousand more workers, ranging from lower class staff to officers whose performances, what sources say, were unsatisfactory.
Through the “Annual Efficiency Evaluation” process started in the KESC, the employees of various departments, through their heads, were divided into three categories of A,B and C, and out of the thousands of employees, at least 2,000 have fallen in the last category with their performances were not up to the desired mark.
The unfortunate employees, the sources claimed, have been issued notices stating that their performances are not satisfactory and were asked for justification that “why they should not be terminated from the company’ in view of their poor performance. “The mentioned employees are likely to be shown the door through a concession package, which may be announced shortly,” they said.
Despite the fear of losing their jobs, however, a serious reaction from the employees affected is unlikely as the KESC has already defused the months’ long protest of over 4,000 workers successfully.
The majority of the sacked 5,000 workers have already obtained the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) announced by the KESC while a minority has recently approached the court against the move, but the power utility’s foreign management is planning to oust more employees.
Throughout 2010, fierce clashes and violent protests were witnessed between the personnel of law enforcement agencies and thousands of sacked KESC employees. The majority of the “non-core” workers were forced to opt for the VSS scheme, despite intervention of both provincial and federal governments and several political parties.
However, the KESC officials denied any such separation scheme or the management planning to oust the staff.
“The KESC, like other organisations, evaluates performances of its employees and those with better records are highly encouraged while the rest are also given further chance to improve their performance. The annual performance evaluation programme has nothing to do with the VSS or any other separation scheme,” they claimed.
Meanwhile, Lateef Mughal of the KESC People’s Workers Union alleged that the power company’s management was trying to reduce the number of employees while outsourcing various departments.
He claimed that the regular employees were promised not to be retrenched from their jobs, but on the contrary, Abraaj Group from time-to-time continues to retrench employees on one or the other reason.
“Firstly, the group offered senior officers working on permanent basis to be reappointed on contractual basis,” he said. “Some officers accepted the offer, but most of them rejected it.”
After rejection from the employees, the KESC management created a surplus pool and transferred over 300 employees into it. The employees protested against the decision, but the management never paid attention to their grievances.
It also prepared new service rules in March 2010 and under its cover, forcefully sent 294 officers home, without giving any reason. Later, these officers went to court, where the case is still pending.
According to Mughal, the management started the same exercise with the employees and introduced the VSS on December 31, 2010 and asked the employees to avail it by January 14, 2011.
While the management said that it was not mandatory to avail the scheme, it also started forcing the employees to avail it or face dire consequences. The scheme was targeted as the management issued letters to 4,500 lower-cadre staff by name, including drivers, security guards, bill distributors, clerical staff and naib qasids.
It is worth mentioning here that 4,500 retrenched employees also included 225 widows, disabled people and minorities.