This is with reference to the recent strike by the PIA workers. The governments continuous refusal to meet their demands led to a total chaos and, besides leaving a large number of domestic and international passengers stranded, brought operations at key airports of the country to a complete standstill. The protests caused losses running into billions of rupees for the already cash-strapped national carrier.
Meanwhile, attempts at negotiations had produced nothing but complete deadlock. It was obvious that the government was more interested in saving the skin of the MD of the PIA rather than lending a serious ear to the grievances that the PIA staff had against the capabilities of Capt Ijaz Haroon in running the airline, particularly its reported lose-lose arrangement with Turkish Airlines, wherein all lucrative PIA routes in Europe and North America were to be handed over to the latter carrier under a proposed codesharing agreement. Consequently after damages worth millions the strike ended with the removal of Ijaz Haroon. It was obvious that the attitude of the government towards the PIA employees was downright brutal including merciless baton charges by the Airport Security Force (ASF) which injured women and media personnel too.
ASIF SHAHZAD
Karachi
