Sacked Pakistan Steel Mills workers challenge mass layoffs in SHC

KARACHI: Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) employees on Tuesday challenged the termination of 4,544 workers by the federal government in Sindh High Court (SHC), ARY News reported.

The plea was filed by 30 PSM employees in the court.

The SHC has sent notices to the federal government and other respondents on a plea filed by PSM workers.

The Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) in November 2020 had sacked its 4,544 employees and sent their termination letters via post.

The PSM spokesman said that they had prepared a list of the employees who have been sacked and included from separate cadres including teachers, drivers, fireman, operators, health and security staffers, SEDGMs, managers and others.

Responding to the decision, a workers group named Stakeholders Group has rejected the decision and said that it seems that the state has become irrelevant in the PSM matter.

On Jan. 27, Federal Minister for Privatisation Mohammad Mian Soomro and Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar co-chaired an important meeting to review and discuss the progress made in the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).

The meeting was briefed on progress as per the approved transaction structure of Pakistan Steel Mills. The forum was informed that meetings were held with various investment parties for Pakistan Steel Mills.

In this regard, different companies of China, Russia and Korea have shown interest, according to a statement released by the privatization ministry.