IFJ Stands in Solidarity With Sacked Media Workers in Pakistan

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed by the sackings of media personnel at television stations and newspapers across Pakistan and calls on media owners to treat their workers with respect and to abide by Pakistan’s labour laws.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an IFJ affiliate, reports that hundreds of journalists and media workers in all major cities of Pakistan have been sacked with little warning since the beginning of the year. Many retrenched workers have received no explanation or been told their retrenchment is due to “financial constraints”.

Complaints about abrupt sackings have been received from workers at television stations Dawn News, News One, Channel 5, Aaj, GEO and Samaa, as well as Aaj Kal, Daily Jinnah Khabrian, the Post, Alsharq and the Pakistan Observer newspapers.

The IFJ draws the attention of Pakistan’s media owners to the February 2009 Hong Kong Declaration, in which leaders of journalists’ associations and trade unions from across Asia-Pacific, attending an IFJ regional meeting on the global financial crisis, urged media houses to recognise that drastic cost-cutting only leads to a vicious downward spiral, in which media companies, workers and the wider public suffer.

The declaration calls on media owners to work with labour organisations to protect the rights, security and living conditions of media workers, and to devise and implement appropriate measures for sustaining quality media businesses during times of financial hardship.

“We urge media executives to invest in the future of journalism by building new audiences and wisely managing the introduction of new technologies and tools that allow journalists to tell their stories in new ways. News executives need vision and courage to do this,” the declaration said.

Click here to view source