Pakistan’s Journalists Demand a Fair Deal

 

 

Journalists from Pakistan’s print and electronic media rallied nation-wide on Monday under the banner of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), to call attention to the continuing crises of livelihoods, job security and physical safety in their profession.

 

Protests were held in all the major cities of Pakistan, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur.

 

The PFUJ condemned the continuing failure of media owners to implement the Seventh Wage Award, despite the lapse of seven years since it was notified. With the tenure of the wage award having expired, the PFUJ is also demanding constitution of the overdue Eighth Wage Board.

 

Other demands include abolishing the contract system of employment in journalism, the enforcement of labour laws, and amendments to the applicable law to bring it in line with international labour conventions

 

The PFUJ also demands a high-level inquiry into recent activities of a senior official of the Pakistan Federal Government’s Information Department, for alleged abuse of power.

 

“The IFJ fully endorses the PFUJ’s demands,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said. “These are challenging times for journalism in Pakistan, with job losses mounting and professional morale taking a severe hit.

 

“Media organisations need to invest more rather than less in quality journalism, since the public demand for information is mounting in a context of growing internal conflict and economic crisis.”

 

According to the PFUJ, the protests were joined in virtually all cities by the local press clubs.

 

The demonstrators were unanimous in demanding that media organisations should retract their arbitrary recent actions and reinstate all journalists who had been unfairly dismissed from employment.

 

“The IFJ calls upon media organisations to meet their obligations toward the professional community of journalists since, as the PFUJ says, the last few years have been a period of unprecedented profitability for the industry,” White said.

 

“If a fair deal for journalists remained an unrealised hope through the years of the boom, the current economic downturn makes it an absolute imperative.”

 

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

 

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 123 countries