Ex-staffers to take Daily Times to court

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 12 June 2012

Thirty ex-employees of Daily Times have initiated legal proceedings for unpaid salaries. Protests have been ongoing, with some turning violent due to frustration.

Summary

LAHORE: Thirty former employees of Daily Times in Lahore, seeking outstanding dues, have served notice on the newspaper’s management through their lawyer. The paper’s managers had for long been dilly-dallying on the issue of payments to those it had sacked some three years ago or others who had quit of their own accord. Although the employees were promised on a few occasions they would be compensated for being axed abruptly and their other dues paid, nothing ever happened. The frustrated ex-staffers held quite a few protests to press for payments but all in vain. At least one protest turned violent when the protesters broke window panes of the newspaper office in Lahore and burnt tyres. However, those fighting for their dues have been encouraged by a recent decision of the Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE) that ruled employees laid off at Daily Times office in Islamabad be paid what is owed to them.

KEY POINTS:

• Thirty ex-employees served notice to Daily Times management.
• Employees claim unpaid dues for three years.
• Protests by former staff have occurred due to unresolved issues.
• At least one protest turned violent, damaging office property.
• Recent tribunal ruling supports employees' claims for payment.