Pakistan Privatization Costs 41,000 Bank Jobs

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

(World of Labor)

More than 41,000 bank employees have so far been rendered jobless due to the
ongoing privatization, according to a report issued on July 20 by the
Pakistan Institute of Labour and Research in collaboration with the Karachi
Press Club. The report says that most of the job losses came from the
closure of 1,800 branches of different banks since 1998.

The report, 'Denial and Discrimination of Labour Rights in Pakistan,'
highlighted an agreement reached by the All-Pakistan Store Employee Workers
Action Committee, under which victims of privatization would receive
severance pay amounting to 25 percent of their last salary for every year
worked. But the report questioned whether this provision was being
enforced. It noted that thousands of contract workers employed in the public
sector were denied a 15 percent raise in salary, announced by the federal
government in July 2006. In one province alone, 32,000 contract employees
were deprived of a raise.

The report also revealed that discrimination in wages on the basis of sex
alone was common in Pakistan. Employers tend to pay women less for the same
skill work. The average income of women workers was 2,593 Pakistani rupees
per month (U.S. $43), compared to 4,323 rupees (U.S. $71) for men.

From "The World of Labor" by Harry Kelber <http://www.laboreducator.org>