Network shutdown on 21st if demands not met, warn PTCL employee

[LRE]

Network shutdown on 21st if demands not met, warn PTCL employees

* Cabinet committee to conduct inquiry into Ranger’s clash with workers

By Atif Khan and Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: Employees of the Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) continued their strike on Friday and warned the management that they would jam the countrywide network on July 21 if their demands were not met.

“If our demands are not accepted by the management, we will switch off all communication devices installed throughout the country on July 21, including fibre optics and telephone exchanges,” Shahid Mehmood, a PTCL Union leader told a gathering of hundreds PTCL protesters in front of parliament lodges on Jinnah Avenue.

Addressing the gathering, union leaders rejected the announcements of calling off the strike by one of their unions, saying, “A ‘pocket’ union of the government – the Line Staff Union – which is not the representative of all PTCL employees had made such an announcement for vested interests only.”

Inquiry: Earlier, the special federal cabinet committee, formed by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to resolve the PTCL issue – comprising Labour and Manpower Minister Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Information Technology Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Finance Minister Naveed Qamar – decided to conduct a thorough inquiry of the matter, particularly the use of force against protesting PTCL workers.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2008_pg7_3