But its 63 years history proves that it is more than a trade union. It is in fact a movement whose annals are replete with memorable battles both in the field of earning a honorable living wages and waging a relentless crusade for the noble cause of freedom of the press and expression. While discussing the history of the PFUJ one must not be oblivious of the fact that the organization grew up faci
ng great odds. In Pakistan trade unions have never been allowed to function freely. The feudal-capitalist oriented establishment has always treated them with a pinch of salt incredulously often considering them as ” communist ” and ” subversive “. That is why even today while technically speaking we have the right of association and right of strike these are subject to such restrictive provision that in effect they negate their free exercise. The successive government has introduced marginal reforms and in essence has ensured protection of the system of exploitation. The one glaring example of this is the vicious system of employment on contract basis legitimised and patronised by the officialdom (both civilian and military) in collusion with the capitalist class. This system deprives the workers of all benefits accruing from the labour laws proving the adage giving by one hand and taking back by another. In the field of purely economic demands the PFUJ’s past history is marked by memorable milestones such as the 49-day long strike in 1949 in the daily “Sindh Observer” ,Karachi, led by the Sindh Union of Journalists which later played a leading role in the formation of the PFUJ in 1950, the strike in the ” Times of Karachi” 1954, daily “Anjam” Karachi. (1966), daily “Kohistan” Lahore (1969), the hunger strike led by the PPL (Pakistan Times and Imroze) workers union and joined by the PUJ for the reinstatement of the four lower grade employees in January 1977, the historic 10-days countrywide strike for the implementation of the interim award by the Second Wage Board in April 1970, and over 45-days long hunger strike movement in 1974 for the reinstatement of arbitrarily sacked journalists and other employees of the daily “Musawaat” Lahore. This was a countrywide movement resulting in imprisonment of over 300 journalists and press workers. The 1970 ten-day countrywide strike may be remembered for a number of significant reasons. The main reason of course was the intransigence and refusal by the proprietor’s body (the All Pakistan Newspapers Society) to accept and implement the award announced by the Second Wage Board for 35 per cent interim relief after a decade-long wage freeze. It may be pertinent to note that at that time the Wage Board and its award was legally meant for the journalists alone and did not cover other employees of Newspapers and News Agencies and yet the APNS was not prepared to accept and implement it. This belies and knocks out the genuineness of the APNS’s argument it is advancing at present that it is agreeable to implement the Seventh Wage Board Award to the Journalists but not for the others employees. It was the APNS’s refusal to implement the Second wage Board Award even after losing their petitions in the High Court that the PFUJ had to resort to the weapon of strike. One may recall how in desperation the fourteen Newspaper editors and proprietors issued a joint statement a few days before the strike began alleging that the strike was inspired by ” Communists and Maulana Bhashani”. They shamelessly asked General Yahya’s Military Government to intervene and take action against the PFUJ and its leaders under Martial Law Regulations.
