Press Statement

Pakistan: Journalists march against massive layoffs at Dunya News

05 Sep, 2019

The leaders of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and hundreds of journalists and media workers marched on and locked down the Dunya News group headquarters in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, on Tuesday 3 September to protest against the massive redundancies made by its management. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) backs its affiliate in condemning the layoffs and demands the company to reverse its decision.

The rally, led by the PFUJ General Secretary Rana Muhammad Azeem, began at the Lahore Press Club. Around 500 workers, officials of the Lahore Press Club, and leaders of different unions joined the march and walked to Dunya News headquarters. Once there, protesters sat in front of the entrance and the exit gate of the building for over three hours.

The protesters were holding billboards and banners with different slogans condemning the massive layoffs.

Dunya News group fired 70 journalists without prior notice. Journalists’ leaders strongly condemned these layoffs which they consider to be unlawful and are urging the management to reinstate all workers.

“The unlawful termination of journalists from any media house is not acceptable. We demand the restoration of jobs and hope that it will be done amicably. Otherwise, unions will be forced to take other sever actions. We warn other media houses to avoid any other unlawful practices,” Rana Azeem added.    

The sit-in ended in the evening but protesters announced it would continue the following days, until all jobs are restored.

The IFJ said: “We stand in solidarity with the PFUJ and Dunya News’ media workers. Workers’ rights must be respected and we urge the media’s management to work with journalists’ leaders in addressing their demands and settling the dispute through dialogue.”

Written By

IFJ Asia-Pacific IFJ Asia-Pacific

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0946
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