Ex-PSM workers demand dues 'pending for six years'.

KARACHI -- Former workers of the Pakistan Steel Mills, under the umbrella of 'Retired Employees Unity of Pakistan Steel' held a demonstration outside the local press club on ThursAday to demand their dues.

Their leaders told the media that for six years now, they had not been getting the interest being collected from their provident fund amount. Most of them are not even getting their pension as is their right under the Employees' Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI) rules, according to them.

Speaking to the participants, Mirza Maqsood, the organisation's secretary, said that when Pakistan Steel Mills workers were being forcibly removed, the provincial government had promised to hire them all again and regularise them after coming to power which did not happen. 'The PSM was also closed though it was said that it would be reopened. Now we want it reopened to save the country from a loss of six billion dollars,' he said.

'It is sad to see how the cases being filed by PSM employees in courts are being dealt with by judges. They are dismissing them without any thought. These cases were filed when the institution was still functioning,' he said.

He also said that if their pleas were not heard, they would start holding sit-ins, starting with a four-hour protest outside the PSM head office on February 7. And if the demands are still not met, they would...