PC Hotel Workers Strike update – 20 Days and counting

There are only about 140 people left in the basement in their 20th day of protest at the PC. On Sunday evening about 30 to 40 went home due to sickness or some other emergent reason and were not allowed to return to the basement and in their astute attitude the PC management is not budging from their position. The workers’s current demands are basically asking them to come to the negotiating table and do not fire the PC Four.

Since the last few days the PC management has restored to video taping these protesters while they are eating food. These protesters being holed up in the PC basement consume food from the hotel and the management prefers to video tape them eating to humiliate them that – you dare eat our food and then you talk about unions. The Human Resources Director fighting against these protesting workers is a retired Major Zia Jan who came to the PC after busting a union at the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC). Major Zia recently told the striking workers that they ought to be ashamed of themselves for fighting the PC.

About 17 left-wing parties and labor bodies met today at the Labor Party Pakistan Office today evening and all have unanimously decided to to step up their struggle with the PC workers and chalked out plan to exert more pressure on the PC management to address the issue .

The decisions that were made are as follows

  1. All the representatives will present at NIRC Court tomorrow morning at 10am where PC workers case will be processed [as an NIRC Judge has issued arrest warrant of the four sacked officer bearers today]
  2. Parties and workers’ delegation will visit various media centers and urge them to increase coverage of the PC workers
  3. A protest rally will be held on Wednesday 17th March at 4pm at PC Hotel
  4. Following which a Press conference of all citizens representatives will be held on Thursday 18th March and they will give a three-day ultimatum to PC Management to accept the demands of the workers or else an indefinite hunger strike will be started at Karachi Press Club till the acceptance of demands.
Sign the Pearl Continental Workers’ Occupation Petition. Their demands are simple,

  1. Reinstate the four sacked employees
  2. Recognize the union and
  3. Come to the negotiation table.

Is that too difficult to ask for?


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10 responses to “PC Hotel Workers Strike update – 20 Days and counting”

  1. Nadir El Edroos Avatar
    Nadir El Edroos

    more power to them!! Its a shame that the mainstream media is not covering civil society actions – especially when they claim to be the fourth pillar of the state. I guess the Hashoo Groups advertisement budget is quite large! No one wants to upset a major client!

  2. riaz ahmed Avatar

    dear awab: the 35 or so who were stopped from re-entering the hotel last friday managed to get in today after they assembled at the gate and raised slogans, the notorious Security Chief Major Zia Jan appeared and seeing the anger instead of demanding a written oath 'to work instead of occupy' he asked for a verbal one, all agreed and so the numbers inside have once again reached the levels they were on Friday, ie b/w 150-160. The 17 party/union initiative is a big move, all concerned citizens are invited to attend the meeting after the press conference at 4pm inside Karachi Press Club so as to chalk out a future line of action including a big demo/march. Many new people are now supporting the strike/occupation/solidarity in many different ways, people are generally inspired by the resolution of PC strikers in general and the developing atmosphere of growing and prolonged workers struggle in many parts of the country.

    1. Teeth Maestro Avatar

      Thank you for the update – Today I was at PC in the evening – talked to a few waiters – and was impressed at the upbeat attitude they had – were appealing for attention but were unified that they are resolute to fight the Major …. Hats of to your Riaz for bringing this issue to light and hope that these workers demands are met

    2. Nazia Avatar
      Nazia

      Teeth

      I am still unable to understand the real situation.

      PC is a private venture and all companies have different terms of employment than govt policies.

      Only in limited areas they are obliged to follow govt instructions.

      They always make such kind of agreement in which least favor is given to non technical staff and before joining all have to sign such contract which sometime looks like have extreme inhumane expressions and our people in this unemployment crisis willing to sign without giving it second thought.

      So in this case that employees are still inside the hotel for 20 days and even food in supplying to them from kitchen of PC Situation is not as worst as seeing in other industries.

      Such kind of attitude is even not observed in spoiled govt industries like steel mill, PIA,SNGL etc where once you are oust you even cant enter in the premises of job area.

      Such trend reflect the soft attitude of PC management as Here I am seeing how brutally the employees are being humiliated in private and semi private organization if some demand are made to management after long service.

      These employees are through out use them also in their houses or for their private jobs under package of company and some employees told me that they work continuously for 12 to 14 hrs for such lower jobs , just to run the daily expenditures.

  3. QaimKhani Avatar
    QaimKhani

    Teetho,

    Thanks for bringing up, their strike up in the media. I hope they get what they deserve.

    Long live all the hard working people of Pakistan.

    1. Teeth Maestro Avatar

      QaimKhani – truly well said "Long live all the hard working people of Pakistan."

      this elitist mentality of Sait baazi must go, sadly I too am often guilty of it personally but try our best to be fair. These workers have a issue which must be heard, while im sure hashwanis might truly be down sizing either way – the negotiations must be opened up and an amicable solution presented – this 20 days strike is insane and inhumane for any businessman to ignore

  4. TARIQ KHAN Avatar
    TARIQ KHAN

    Karachites should boycott PC until they listen to the demands of these workers. But then these are the same Karachites who will not stand up against the killings of innocent Karachite by MQM, PPP and ANP Terrorists or Pak Army's Operation in Pukhtunkhwa! 🙂

    Buss Naam rahey ALLAH ka!

  5. MB Avatar

    One more Major ?

    Man when these retards will learn

  6. Pakistani Revolution Avatar

    For media coverage of PC worker strike, contact Urdu magazine, Labbaik & Ummat, Karachi

    _________________________________________________________

    http://www.UmmatPublication.com

    We fully support the "Mehenti Workers" and their rights and deeply condemn the criminal management of Pearl Continental Hotel in Karachi for acting like Capitalist Draculas.

    Dont forget that PC-Karachi is owned by the Agha Khani criminals, for whom, human life, human rights and workers rights dont mean anything. These Agha Khani Criminals (Aghani Criminals) are only interested in their profits by drawing as much blood from the "Mehenti Workers" (Hard working workers) as they possibly can.

    Karachi-Walas should boycott the PC in Karachi and this should be done in Lahore, Pindi, Peshawar, Bhorbun & Gwadar also.

    Those who want to send emails of protests to PC should note these email addresses :

    PCHK@Hashoogroup.com – Karachi

    PCHL@Hashoogroup.com – Lahore

    PCHR@Hashoogroup.com – Pindi

    Campaign in Germany against Pearl Continental

    _________________________________________________

    We are organizing a protest campaign against the criminal management of Pearl Continental from Germany and we will continue to send them with protest emails, until the matter is amicably resolved in favour of the "Mehenti Workers".

    We are also sending the copies of our emails to Agha Khan centres in Europe at these addresses :

    http://www.AKDN.org —- Online contact
    http://www.AKF.org.ukinfo@AKF.org.uk — Cockroach Britain
    http://www.AKFC.ca —– info@AKFC.ca —– Canada

    At the same time, we are also sending this information to the Urdu Magazine, "Labbaik", which is a part of Urdu daily, Ummat. Labbaik has got a slogan that if you have any problem with any institution, they will take up your case and will give it a wide media circulation. So it is also a good idea to contact Ummat newspaper at these email addresses :

    http://www.Ummat.net http://www.UmmatPublication.com

    admin@Ummat.net

    info@UmmatPublication.com

    Ummat77@gmail.com — Labbaik magazine

    Ummat77@gmail.com is the direct email address of Labbaik Urdu magazine and its phone number is : 021 – 356 – 55275

    Pakistani Revolutionaries

    Jinnah Journalist Bureau

    Germany

    Jinnah_Journalist_Bureau@yahoo.com


    http://www.IslamicHeroes.wordpress.com

  7. jobs karachi Avatar

    i have visited to this site and found it with the sorrow of the pc management, pc hotel management will not become the poor to give the food to their pillars mean workers.