Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel Union Leaders Free on Bail, Union-Busting Continues

Posted to the IUF website 05-Apr-2002

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The last officers of Pakistan's Pearl Continental Hotel Workers' Union still in jail or police detention were freed on bail on March 21. They were welcomed upon release by a large crowd of workers and union supporters, but were unable to return to their jobs. Their positions at the hotel were officially terminated on March 2 � nearly two months into their groundless detention - when management informed them that their posts could no longer be left vacant.

Union General Secretary Ghulam Mehboob, Joint Secretary Bashir Hussain and Vice Chairman Aurangzeb were the last of a group of union officers and members arrested or detained by police following a suspicious fire incident at the hotel on January 6. The circumstances surrounding the arrests and detentions of the union leaders, which took place in the midst of a vicious anti-union campaign by the hotel management, suggest that management and police colluded in a union-busting operation.

Management at the Karachi hotel has been seeking to intimidate the union since last September, when the union was informed that a decline in bookings made it necessary to sack all casual and temporary workers and eliminate one day of paid work per week for permanent staff. The union called for negotiations, but management ignored the request and proceeded to sack 350 casual workers. The union was not informed, nor were the dismissed workers. The dismissal letter was published in a daily newspaper on November 8, and the workers were barred from entering the hotel when they reported for work the next day.

The union, with the active support of the IUF Pakistan Outreach Office, responded with a broad-based campaign to reinstate the dismissed casuals. In the course of the campaign, the union Vice Chairman was harassed by the police and violently attacked near his home.

The January 7 arrests and detentions (illegal under Pakistani law) marked a significant escalation in the conflict. A fire which damaged part of the hotel on Sunday, January 6 was initially described by the hotel management in a press statement as a routine accident. Management then informed the Civil Lines Police Station in Karachi that unidentified persons were responsible for the fire. Sunday evening, management told the police that the fire resulted from a deliberate act of union sabotage, and on January 7 Central Investigation Agency (CIA) police detained a group of union officers and members.

Following a series of vigorous protests organized by the IUF Pakistan Outreach Office together with labour and human rights organizations, 4 of the detained members were released but the officers remained in police detention. Union President Mohammad Nasir was released from CIA custody on the evening of January 16 after being continually shuffled over many days from one police lockup to another. When Nasir reported for work on January 21, he found that he had been suspended for failing to report for work during the time he had been in police detention!

One week later, on January 23, the CIA released two additional union detainees. When the two reported for duty, they were likewise suspended for absenteeism. And during the campaign to free the detained union leaders, management announced a restructuring plan which resulted in the dismissed of 31 active members and officials of the union, including officers Noor Wali, Ali Murad, Hidayatullah, Moin Khan and Nasreen Reshad, who were terminated on March 11 without any prior information.

As part of its ongoing drive to dismantle the union, management has initiated legal measures to cancel the union's official registration. The labour directorate has asked the labour court to implement this cancellation without holding an inquiry, which is illegal under Pakistani law. The hotel management has also stopped deducting union membership fees and ceased payment of the union office rent as established in the collective agreement. The union has appealed these moves to the labour directorate, but so far there has been no official response.

The Pearl Continental employees and their union are determined to continue the struggle against unfair dismissals and violations of basic rights at the hotel. They are keeping up the fight with broad support from human and labour rights organizations, including the Pakistan Worker Confederation which brings under its umbrella 10 national trade union centers. All of them are united in their demand that the terminated workers be immediately reinstated and that all charges relating to the false fire case be withdrawn.

What you can do

Write to Pakistan's Federal Labour Minister, demanding respect for union rights at the hotel and an end to the persecution of Pearl Continental Hotel Union members and officers. Sacking workers for their trade union membership is not only a violation of ILO Conventions, it is illegal under Pakistan's own legislation.

The sample letter below can serve as a model. Please send copies of any messages you might send to the IUF secretariat. If you have difficulty in reaching the fax number below, kindly send your message to the IUF secretariat by e-mail ([email protected]) or fax (+41 22 793 2238) and we will convey it IUF Pakistan for transmission to the authorities.

We thank you in advance for your solidarity and support.

Model Fax to: Mr. Owais Ghani, Federal Labour Minister
Fax: +92 51 92 06 283/92 03 462

Dear Mr. Minister:
I write to express my deep concern over severe violations of trade union rights at the Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel. Management at this establishment has been pursuing an aggressive anti-union policy following the decision to dismiss 350 casual employees on November 8 last year. The Pearl Continental Hotel Workers Union, which represents hotel employees was not informed of this decision, nor were the dismissed workers. The dismissal letter was published in a daily newspaper on November 8, and the workers were barred from entering the hotel when they reported for work the next day. The union understandably opposed this decision and has attempted, thus far unsuccessfully, to negotiate over this issue. As the union attempted to defend the rights of the dismissed casual workers, the union Vice Chairman was harassed by the police and violently attacked near his home.

Anti-union measures took a new turn in response to a suspicious fire at the hotel on January 6. In a press statement, the hotel management initially described the incident as a routine accident. Management subsequently told the police that the fire resulted from a deliberate act of union sabotage, and on January 7 Central Investigation Agency police detained union President Mohammad Nasir, Vice President Mohammad Ishaq, General Secretary Ghulam Mehboob and 8 other officers and members. While 8 of the detained union members were eventually released, the union General Secretary Ghulam Mehboob, Joint Secretary Bashir Hussain, and Vice Chairman Aurangzeg were detained until March 21, when they were freed on bail.

Mohammad Nasir and Mohammad Nawaz, two of the union officers who were illegally detained were suspended from their posts for so-called absenteeism, and remained suspended. Ghulam Mehboob, Bashir Hussain and Auragzeb were terminated by the hotel � at whose instigation they were arrested �on March 2 , while in detention. Union officers Noor Wali, Ali Murad, Hidayatullah, Moin Khan and Nasreen Reshad were dismissed on March 11 without any prior information. Thirty-one active union members and office bearers have been recently terminated as the result of an alleged restructuring plan. The evidence suggests that management is simply seeking to rid the establishment of active union members and officers in an attempt to eliminate the union organization.

Such dismissals are illegal under ILO Conventions on basic trade union rights which the government of Pakistan is obliged to uphold. They are also illegal under Pakistan's own industrial relations legislation, specifically Industrial Relations ordinance 1969, which states that no worker can be terminated due to union activities.

Further evidence of management's decision to ignore all laws in its determination to eliminate the union are management's application to the labour department requesting that it cancel the union's registration, and management's unilateral decision to cease the payroll checkoff for union membership. Management is now refusing as well to pay the union office rent, as established in the collective agreement. The labour directorate has filed an application to the labour court to withdraw the union's legal registration, but this move was made without an official enquiry, which we understand to be illegal under Pakistan's legislation.

I therefore urge you to use your good offices to assist in the restoration of basic trade union rights for the workers of the Karachi Pearl Continental Hotel and the union which represents them. All dismissed workers must be reinstated, the charges from the alleged arson incident must be withdrawn, and the management of the hotel should immediately enter into good faith negotiations with the Pearl Continental Hotel Workers Union to resolve all outstanding issues through negotiation, rather than repression.
Yours sincerely,