Prospective buyers of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have expressed reluctance to retain the airline’s employees. On Monday, the National Assembly panel recommended that the government order the buyer to retain all its employees for five years.
Express Tribune reported that some bidders also indicated that all employee liabilities up to the bid date should be the government’s headache.
Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) leader Muhammad Farooq Sattar, who chaired the standing committee, urged that PIA’s employees be retained for at least five years and that the workers’ union be involved.
The draft Share, Purchase and Subscription Agreement currently proposes that existing employees, regardless of their position, cannot be terminated, laid off, retrenched, or forced to resign for three years from the completion date, except in misconduct cases. However, Secretary of the Privatisation Ministry Jawad Paul noted that this is still being determined.
He also stated that PIA has incurred Rs499 billion in losses since 2015, with cumulative losses reaching Rs842 billion.
The government is required to conduct a special audit of PIA’s accounts by June 30th, a requirement before its privatisation.
