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Workers Arrested for Protesting Unjust Dismissal of Union President

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Over 60 workers and their trade union leaders were arrested on the evening of the 3rd of May during a protest outside the Serena Hotel in Quetta, Pakistan. Workers had assembled to protest the dismissal of the local union president, Haji Gul Hassan, who is

also a deputy-general secretary of the Pakistan Hotel, Restaurant, Clubs, Tourism, Catering and Allied Workers' Federation (PHRCTCAWF).

The hotel is owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development,a for-profit enterprises controlled by one of the world's wealthiest men.

Over several years the union and its officers had participated in activities with other hotel unions, including the IUF-affiliated Pearl Continental Hotel Workers' Federation. In April 2004, the Quetta Serena Hotel Labour Union joined with other hotel unions to inaugurate a sectoral national federation representing workers in HRCT industries.

On the 21st of March 2005 fellow unionists from the PHRCTCAWF, Ghulam Mehboob, General Secretary, and Saeed Mazari, Finance Secretary, along with the IUF Pakistan Outreach Office Qamar ul Hassan met with the Serena Hotel Union president and other union members at the hotel.

On 23rd March (a public holiday in Pakistan) Haji Gul Hassan, who was not working that day, visited the hotel to give assistance to a union member making an application for holidays. The General Manager saw the union president in the hotel and asked him to leave. The union president replied that he was doing his job as a union president in assisting a union member. An argument ensued between the two. Yet, such an argument should never have happened as the general manager was clearly interfering with the union president's right to carry out union activities, an action clearly allowed under the freedom of association conventions of the International Labour Organisation, to which Pakistan is a signatory.

A week later on the 30th of March the management issued Haji Gul Hassan with a dismissal notice. The workers of the Serena Hotel Union held demonstrations, press briefings and protests demanding the reinstatement of the union president. Management refused all offers to negotiate.

On the 29th of April 2005 two union office bearers visited the personnel manager of the Serena Hotel to present Haji Gul Hassans grievance notice, however, the personal manager refused to accept the notice and brought them to the general manager, who also refused to accept the grievance notice.

Hotel Security Guards Assault Union President in Presence of Management

Both office bearers left the hotel and informed the union president. Haji Gul Hassan decided to personally take the grievance notice and went to the hotel. At the main gate of the hotel a security person stopped him in the presence of Food & Beverage Manager Waseem Baig and Human Resources Manager Colonel (Rtd.) Tariq. The union president was beaten by security guards in the presence of these two managers. Haji Gul Hassan received severe injuries on his leg and other parts of his body. Thereafter, the human resources manager called the police who arrested Haji Gul Hassan and took him to the police station.

The next day (30 April) police presented Haji Gul Hassan in court and obtained permission to keep him in custody for two days. At 3:30pm the union held a general body meeting at the perimeter of the hotel. Saeed Mazari of the Pearl Continental Hotel Federation spoke and assured workers of solidarity support from other hotel unions in Pakistan and overseas.

The meeting turned into a big demonstration. Union members staged a sit-in and demanded the release from police custody of the union president. Negotiations were held between the civil administration, the police, hotel management and the union. Workers staged a sit-in at the front of hotel, and at 10:00pm the police were forced to release Haji Gul Hassan.

Management continued to refuse to reinstate the union president. A protest was called for the 3rd of May to reiterate workers' demand for the reinstatement of their union president. The protest was a legitimate expression of workers' discontent over the unjust nature of Haji Gul Hassan's dismissal. After being arrested at around 3pm on the 3rd, the 60 workers were not released by the police until the early hours of the 4th of May.

On the same day the IUF wrote to the Governor of Baluchistan (the chief provinical official) and the General Manager of the Serena Hotel. Ron Oswald, IUF General Secretary, noted in a letter to the General Manager that the, "acts of intimidation and repression represent a clear and scandalous violation of basic human rights," and further stated that the IUF, "will closely monitor developments at the hotel and support the union by all means at our disposal."

By deciding to use intimidation, force and the denial of fundamental labour rights in an attempt to silence the union and its attempts to build solidarity among hotel workers in Pakistan and throughout the world, management have sullied the reputation of the hotel and its owners. On the web page of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), the owning company of the Serena Hotel, is this:

"Through direct participation in the management of companies in which it invests and through partnerships with institutional and individual investors, both domestic and foreign, AKFED builds strong local companies. This approach, combined with AKFED's sensitivity to the impact of its investments on the human and physical environment, helps to foster a sound and socially responsible private sector in the developing world."

Not only does the assault on Haji Gul Hassan and the arrest of the 60 hotel workers on the 3rd of May demonstrate the scant regard Serena Hotel management have for the dignity and rights of workers but it calls into question the reputation of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development and how it could so closely associate with such abuses.

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