How Personal Experiences Shape the Way We Are Essay Example for Free

How Personal Experiences Shape the Way We Are Essay Everybody has their own share of experiences in life. Some have experiences that affect their lives. However, there are also some people who do think that their experience is just non-consequential. Well, in my point of view, I think experiences are very important for every individual. It shapes up the way people view things and sometimes it does change the attitude of the person. I have two events that I would like to share. I consider these experiences as very important and life changing. My first important experience was when I was seventeen. In our country, kids are required to take a public examination before graduating high school. The teacher gave the class two months to prepare for the examinations. Most of my classmates got serious during that time. I consider myself a happy go lucky person before. I will never forget what I did. I acted very irresponsibly. As the saying goes, Time is gold. Well, I didn’t really know what that means then. I hang out with my friends almost every day. My parents scolded me for being so negligent of my studies. They actually forced me to study several times and asked me to concentrate on it. I never did listen back then. It was a big mistake on my part. When the results of the exam came out, it was really disappointing. I remembered I was already working in my parent’s company. I could not even face my parents. After getting the results it is now time to go to college. My cousin and I went together for an interview. I felt so ashamed because my cousin has higher marks. When I got back home that day, I came to my mom and I cried. I apologized to her for not giving my best effort in the exams. I got into Santa Monica College. I’ve worked hard on each subject that I took. This experience had made me realize that nothing is for free in this world. If a person wants a good compensation, a good deed or a good standing, one must make efforts to achieve what they want to have. I hope this experience would give other people a lesson on prioritizing important things in life before having fun. Another experience that I would like to share was the time when I was in my ninth grade in school. I have joined an organization called â€Å"YMCA†. This organization supplies lots of community services to people. It takes care of the elderly, half-wit people and children. I get emotional when I see elderly people. The old people in the organization live by themselves in old broken apartments. Most of them are really lonely and are ignored. No one listens to them. In all that time, I saw myself in their shoes when I get older. I would not like to be treated in the same way by young people. I started to care for them by talking to them and cleaning up their apartments. Some talk to me happily and are really excited that someone is listening to them. However, some of them cry when you touch them. These reactions only show that most of the elderly needs more love and care from the younger people. This had shown me that lots of people need the help and love of others. It changed my views and made me care for my parents more. These experiences had given me a lot to think about. It made me a better person and I am proud to have experienced this in life. Not everything can be studied and read in the book. A person must go through these experiences in order to realize what they are taking for granted. Precious experiences such as these must be treasured.

Taizong versus Al Mawardi in Politics and Religion Essay examples -- e

The Taizong handout and the Al Mawardi source can be compared through their religious and political similarities and differences. These two sources have many similarities, yet they also have some key differences. They differ, for example, in their views of: ways a ruler or emperor should rule their government or empire, the use of the military, and the similarity between who will succeed and or shall be chosen for a right task in government. It seems as if the Islamic structure for government is much more strict than the Tang Dynasty, based on the fact that the Islamic government must follow the Koran and Hadith. One difference between the Taizong handout and the Al Mawardi source is the way an emperor or caliphate shall rule their government or empire. The Islamic ruler or caliph was elected by the people, which was the idea of the majority of the population, the Sunni’s. The job of caliph or ruler involved strict religious and political duties. The power of the government was complete as long as its ruler or caliph stuck to the Koran and Hadith. If something clashed with the Koran it could not be done. A ruler could not broaden his will so that he will be able to accept heaven and earth. The ruler had to follow the words of the Koran and had to follow the Islamic law, Hadith. The Islamic ruler at the time had to follow the Koran and Hadith, thus if this ruler did follow the Koran and Hadith it would constitute him and a good ruler. Emperor Taizong on the other hand believed there are other ways for an Emperor to act. Based on Confucian philosophy, â€Å"When the ruler looks as lofty and firm as a mountain peak and as pure, bright and illuminating as the sun and moon, the people will admire and respect him†. If this Emperor did... ...ons for the caliph. Knowledge about the religion, Hadith, and the government is required to be a caliph. One difference between Taizong’s advice and Al Mawardi’s ideas is the fact that in the Tang Dynasty there was Confucianism within the government, it was the examination system. To become part of the Tang Dynasty government, one must pass a Confucian based test. If one does pass the test they become part of the government. â€Å"Those with low intelligence or capability should not be entrusted with heavy tasks or responsibilities. If the right person is given the right task, the government can be governed with ease. Whether the emperor gets hold of the right person for the right task determines whether his empire will be well governed.† Determining whether the emperor gets the right person for the right job will determine how long the government and Dynasty shall last.

Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences

Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS) Vol. 31, No. 1 (June 2011), pp. 185-199 Unions and Management: A Case Study of Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Muhammad Shaukat Malik Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: [email  protected] edu. pk A. B. Basit Associate Professor of Economics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur Ahmad Kamal Qazi Assistant Manager-Marketing, PTCL, Multan Pakistan. E-mail: [email  protected] com Abstract Unions basically seek to advance the interest of their members.As a principal goal, unions exert a strong influence on individuals, organizations and upon the government to advance the economic and social positions of their constituents. Union play significant role by adopting positions on such public issues as unemployment, job security, opportunity for advancement, tariffs, health care, wages, social security etc. They try to influence the decisions of not only the administra tion of individual organization but also the state legislatures to improve labor laws on variety of issues for welfare of their employees.In addition, unions by performing their fraternal goals provide a sense of belonging for employees to give them a sense of identification and purpose. This paper first traces the historical development of unions with particular references to Pakistan, highlight their merit and demerit, current position in public and private organizations and challenge they are facing at present. Second it examines the role of unions in Pakistan's major institution like Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTCL).It is observed that over the time union is loosing their positions in the world as well as in Pakistan like in PTCL. After privatizations since 2006 the state of the affairs of unions at PTCL are very pathetic. Employees have lost all their hopes that the union will ever work for their well beings. Unions need to review themselves to be accepted by the e mployee and the leaders have to work beyond their personal interests. Unions need to demonstrate a larger social vision as well. Keywords: Unions; PTCL; Collective Bargaining Agent 186 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. Concept of union evolved in 18th century and within hundred years, unions in organization become so strong that they become the most critical variable to be managed by the organizational management. Unions represent the non managerial staff of an organization and work for their rights i-e salary rise, promotions, better working environment and employee safety etc. Sometimes the agenda of unions contradicts with the agenda of management due to which conflict generates and if this issue is not resolved in its early stage, it could result in strikes, shutdowns, police arrests etc.Numbers of international event are evident to this theory. This paper aims to explore union role in the organizations and how they performed in different regimes in different orga nizations of the world and in Pakistan like Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL). The paper is structured as follows: Following the introduction, section 2. 0 provides literature review about the union’s history, their merits and demerits, their role in public and private organization, their progress in the world and in Pakistan.Section 3 provides an overview of Pakistan Telecom Sector and PTCL. Section 4 provides the methodology used for the study. Section 5 discusses the results of the study in detail and section 6 presents the overall conclusions and our recommendations. I. Introduction II. Literature Review Farbar (2001) defined labor union as â€Å"It is an association of workers who bargain collectively with their employer regarding the terms and conditions of employment†. Akteruzzaman (2006) says that labor unions as â€Å"Labor unions re voluntary associations of workers to promote and protect their interest by collective endeavor and constitute an integr al part of the relationship between the employees and employers†. Whereas, Gomper (2009) has given more comprehensive definition in a way â€Å"that labor union is a group of workers who have organized in order to pursue common work-related goals, such as better wages and benefits, safer working conditions, and greater job security†.By concluding all definitions we can say that labor union is â€Å"Organization whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, and whose principal purposes are to negotiate wages and working condition terms, regulate relations between workers (its members) and the employer, take collective action to enforce the terms of collective bargaining, raise new demands on behalf of its members, and help settle their grievances†. The concept of combined effort by the workers to protect their rights was initiated in 18th century from Britain.According to Mohar (2007), union were initially started in great Britain in 1780 when workers un ited against the Combination Act implemented by the then Prime Minister William Pitt but they did not succeed and faced even more bitter laws like The Gagging Act (1817), Six Acts etc. Relief was started with the introduction of the Master and Servant Act (1867), the trade union act (1871), Conspiracy and property act of (1875), The Employer’s Liability Act (1880).However the unions got their real strength in 1913 after the implementation of Trade Union Act which gave the unions the right to have its subscriptions into a political and a social fund. The trend of unionism in Britain afterwards expanded to USA. Reynolds (2009) says that in Muhammad Shaukat Malik, A. B. Basit, Ahmad Kamal Qazi 187 1860’s political philosophy began to shift toward collectivism and national trade unions gains a real foothold. According to Perlman (1922) point of view, in USA, trade unions really exploded during the nineteenth century with the founding of the first national union, the Nation al Labor Union (NLU).It was created in 1866 and was not exclusive to any particular kind of worker. Next, the Knights of Labor was founded in 1869. Their membership peaked around 700,000 members, with some of their key issues being child labor opposition and demands for an eight-hour day. The most famous American union was probably the American Federation of Labor (AFL), founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers. Afterwards, according to Allen (2005) in contrast to the craft unionism of the AFL, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) founded in 1905. It used violence to promote the cause of unskilled workers.The IWW virtually disappeared after World War I. In 1930s, the strategy of industrial unionism was pushed by John L. Lewis' Committee for Industrial Organizations within the AFL. Founded in 1933, the committee split from the AFL in 1938 as the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The Second Red Scare after World War II pushed the AFL and CIO into a 1955 merger as the AFL-CIO u nder Lewis' leadership. In Indo-Pak, as reported by Bawa and Hashmi (2010), the concept of collective labor was introduced by Malik Gokhale which was given legal identity through the introduction of Trade Union Act 1926.At that time, two most strong unions working under the influence of National Congress and Socialist Party were Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and Hindustan Mazdur Sabha (HMS). After the inception of Pakistan, the first trade union established in Pakistan was Pakistan Trade Union Federation (PTUF) having ties with INTUC and Mirza Ibrahim as its first President. Candland (2007) narrates the history of unions in Pakistan and say that up till 1952, no much developments were made in unions.In 1952, Pakistan Essential Services Act was promulgated which gave the government right to restrict any trade union and collective bargaining in any industry. First labor policy of government was announced on 15th August 1955, stating the workers to be the partners in industry, bu t no legislation was formulated in this regard. In 1958, General Ayub Khan imposed the martial law and abolished the first labor policy. On 4th February 1959, second labor policy namely Burki labor policy was announced which discouraged the labor unions and allowed the government to directly involves in the resolution of labor disputes.In 1969, labors started pressurizes the military government to get rights of forming trade unions with all powers, The government was ready to give the same rights but this policy could not overcome the unrest among the workers. This unrest among the workers was later cashed by Bhutto and he supported the union leaders. According to Shah (2010), Bhutto formulated the People Labor Federation for organizing the labor and through them he gained the powers which helped him lot to win election and become prime minister. After fall of 188 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 1Bhutto government, in 1977 General Zia imposed the martial law and str ictly banned the union’s movement in Pakistan. This ban was partially lifted in the Junego government and later it was completely lifted by Benazir Bhutto in 1989 in her first tenure. Afterwards, more or less same policies were continued by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir in their respective regimes. General Musharraf right from beginning of his regime implemented several strict laws like Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002, Removal from Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000 and other anti labor laws to limit activities of unions.In present Gilani's regime, some reliefs have been given to employees in pursuance of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto policies by announcing Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance, Employees Old-Age Benefit Act, amended Industrial Relations Ordinance with enhanced protection of worker, imposing condition on the authority of employer to terminate workers job etc. These polices are intact till date. Donas(2005) says that unions adopt two means to fulfill their goals. First an d foremost is through collective bargaining with the employer being as a representative of the employees.The second way they adopt is through efforts to influence government legislation. Union’s are working both in public and private sector organizations to protect the rights of employees. According to Edward (1989), currently unions are very strong in public sector. They have greater membership from the public sector organization. Blacnchflower and Bryson (2007) compared the union influence on wage in public and private sector and found that the unions working in public sector are able to get increase in the wage premium for the public sector employees substantially.They are of the view that although union membership in the both public and private sectors has declined, but unions are still more powerful in public sector. In order to avoid the decline in the membership of the unions, now unions are trying different strategies. Hamilton and Anderson (1999) stated that recent t rend among unions is amalgamation. Unions are getting united in order to preserve the membership. According to Fernie and Metcalf (2005), with around 12% of privately employed workers as members, the future for private sector unionization looks black.According to Pantuosco (2008), private sector unionization has lost nearly 4 million members, while public sector unions have sustained the growth they accumulated in the late 1980s and 1990s. Figure 1 Public and Private Union Density 1983-2005 Source: Pantuosco (2008) PP 35 Muhammad Shaukat Malik, A. B. Basit, Ahmad Kamal Qazi 189 Edward (2010) tried to explain the reasons of decline of unions in private sector by stating that public agencies tend to be static in a way that once a union has organized a group of workers they tend to stay organized.By contrast, the private sector is dynamic, with businesses going bankrupt and new businesses arising all the time. Also many public sector organizations are enjoying the status of monopoly an d unions in public sector push for higher pay and higher government spending with little restraint. They do not care if the cost of government services goes up because the burden is borne by someone else. By contrast, private-sector unions are aware that higher costs for employers may result in lost sales and fewer union jobs.Figure 2 Union Member Shares of Employment Source: Edward C. (2010) PP 1 Unions help the employees in lot many ways. Belman and Voos (1993) are of the view that unions typically help employees in raising the wages of the employees they represent. They also help in reducing income inequality within the represented firm, by reducing differentials between low-paid and high-paid diversified work force. Another important benefit of union mentioned by Ghosh et al. (2009) is that it helps to improve job security, working environment and living conditions.According to Morris (2002), trade union act as the protecting sheets against the threats posed by the globalization on the employees. Since globalization require maximum utilization of the employees to compete in the market and in this case only unions will be protecting employees by negotiating the working hours and work load on the employees. Ghosh et al. (2009) says that unions are engaged in a number of welfare activities, such as providing housing and organizing cooperative societies to improve the quality of workers' lives.In short unions restrict management freedom of action, pressurize them for uniformity of treatment, improve personnel policies and provide one plate forum to the employees to deal with management. Unions have some demerits too. According to Sherk (2009), trades unions can cause wages to go above equilibrium through the threat of strikes etc. and trade unions only consider the needs of its members. They often ignore the plight of those excluded from the labor markets, e. g. the unemployed.Also if unions go on strike and work unproductively, it can lead to lost sales and o utput. Another major disadvantage of union is paying the union dues. Most collective 190 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 1 bargaining agreements require all employees to support the union financially as a condition of their continued employment. Another important demerit identified by Levine (2001) is that unions generally interfere with efficiency, because they protect unproductive workers, raise costs, distort incentives, and frustrate entrepreneurship.Hunter (1999) is of the view that unionized workers lost their individuality. When a union is certified as the exclusive employee representative in a workplace, employees become members of an overall bargaining unit in which the majority rules. Spear (2003) says that the existence of a union in an industry can result in limited choices regarding hiring new employees or even limiting the potential for dismissal of a poorly performing worker. Though internationally union's role can be seen differently in different cou ntries but its main objectives remains the same i. the welfare of employees working in different organizations. Countries like China even are bowed to allow unions at the work place and unions role/importance is increasing there day by day (Metcalf and Li (2006); Prit, 2007, Ghosh et. al (2009). The effectiveness of union’s role in Pakistan, according to Irfan (2008), has declined over the period. Unions have lost their membership because they failed to protect the rights of the working class.In Pakistan, unions mostly exist in all public sector organizations like Postal Services, WAPDA, Railways, PTCL and other government institutions and are thought to be the major reason of inefficiencies of Pakistan public sector. In private sector though union are found in many organizations but their activities are to some extent limited. A summary of union’s status in Pakistan between 1990 to 2006 is given in Table 1. Table 1 Years Trade Unions membership and Industrial Dispute Total Registered Trader Unions 7080 7027 7185 7273 7426 7349 7355 7356 7382 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Union Membership Total No. f Membership Registered of the Trade Unions reporting Reporting Unions 1763 359633 1441 288803 1834 415768 1685 374731 1718 325677 1718 337617 1594 293530 1534 296257 1478 305340 1493 301104 1356 301332 1260 275646 1201 247539 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Industrial Disputes Number Numbers Number of of of Workers Mandays Disputes Involved Lost 99 65918 186726 94 116306 582694 40 73357 398128 28 17133 404564 25 15434 341196 24 10919 63626 30 18566 203323 30 7865 283342 20 6097 122519 6 3937 182151 4 225 667 4 711 7078 4 516 12160 1 407 0 19 1164 1020 NA NA NA NA NA NA 990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Source: Irfan. M. (2008), Pakistan’s wage structure, PP. 27 Muhammad Shaukat Malik, A. B. Basit, Ahmad Kamal Qazi 191 Decline in the popularity of unions in Pakistan is also witnessed by Rehman (2003). He says tha t in Pakistan, membership in unions is low due to the fear of victimization by employers and the inability to recognize any personal advantage from the unions. The leadership is not effective due to personal rivalries and lack of required skills.Also union movements in Pakistan do not have the due social and political support since the political market has been generally dominated by powerful industrialization elite. Ebbinghaus (2002) is of the view that trade union movements are confronting multiple challenges. The challenges faced by the unions in Pakistan are also very critical. Cunniah (2007), is of the view that neo-liberalism is the biggest challenge for trade unions in Pakistan and is alive even after the establishment of new democratic government.The employers have another weapon at their disposal, the displacement of workers by machinery. Ali (1994) observed that one of the laws that hinders trade union activity is the Essential Services Maintenance Act of 1952 (ESA) (which covers government services and state enterprises, such as energy production, power generation and transmission, the state-owned airline, and ports) and is usually invoked to limit or ban strikes, and is also used to severely curtail collective bargaining rights.Another challenge raised by Somavia (2008) is that Pakistani law is particularly hard on agricultural workers who are denied the right to form unions and are thus prevented from striking, bargaining collectively, or making any demands on their employers. Pakistan trade union membership is very weak at this time. Only 0. 6% of the total workers are organized in the trade unions. About 7392 trade unions are registered in Pakistan which are representing the 2,55,405 members throughout Pakistan.Table 2 Total number of the work force Total numbers of the work force is as follow: Sector Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting & Fishing Mining, Quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, Gas, Water Construction Whole sale & Retailed Trade, Restaur ant & Hotels Transport, Storage & Communication Financing, Insurance, Real Estate & Business Sector Community, Social & Personal Services TOTAL Source: http://www. pakistan. gov. pk/divisions/bstat. pdf Million 18. 35 0. 03 4. 35 0. 26 2. 19 5. 12 1. 91 0. 31 5. 38 37. 9 Percent 48. 42 0. 07 11. 48 0. 7 5. 78 13. 5 5. 03 0. 82 14. 2 100 III. Telecomm Sector of Pakistan and PTCLPakistan has well established telecom sector at present. In 1947, at the time of inception, Pakistan has just 7000 telephone lines. Over the time, under different regimes lots of developments have been taken place to bring this sector at par with world. Under the sectors reforms different companies are allowed to 192 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 1 work in Pakistan and new services like ISDN, DSL, CDML, GPRS etc. are offered by PTCL and other mobile companies working in Pakistan. PTA (Pakistan Telecom Authority) since 1994 holds the responsibility to regulate the telecom sector in Pakistan.P TCL has been privatized by selling its 1. 3 billions shares with management rights to U. A. E based company Etisilat since 12th April, 2006. According to Akhtar (2009), Pakistan’s Telecom sector has been gearing up to secure its place in fast developing era of new technologies. The government has been able to foster competition by declaring the telecommunication sector as an industry since 2005. The drive towards competition widened the scope for private and foreign ownership further through the deregulation policy announced in July 2003.From the beginnings of Posts & Telegraph Department in 1947 and establishment of Pakistan Telephone & Telegraph Department in 1962, Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) took over operations and functions from Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph Department under Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Act 1991. Pursuing a progressive policy, the Government in 1991, announced its plans to privatize PTCL, and in 1994 issued six million vouch ers exchangeable into 600 million shares. Each had a par value of Rs. 10 per share. These vouchers were converted into PTCL shares in mid1996.In 1995, Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Ordinance formed the basis for PTCL monopoly over basic telephony in the country. The provisions of the Ordinance were lent permanence in October 1996 through Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act. In the same year, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited was formed and listed on all stock exchanges of Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan sold 26% shares and control of the company to Etisalat in 2006. The Government of Pakistan retained 62% of the shares while the remaining 12% are held by the general ublic. Since privatization, PTCL profit is declined. Following are the financial highlights of PTCL since its privatization. Table 5 Financial Highlights of PTCL since it Privatization Unit Rs. (m) Rs. (m) Rs. (m) Rs. (m) 2010 57,175 14,281 9294 150768 2009 59,239 14021 9151 154048 2008 66,336 -4463 -2825 140104 2007 71,068 23744 15639 152821 2006 79,411 30974 20777 152240 2005 87,356 39296 26606 136078 Description Revenue Profit/Loss Before Tax Profit/Loss After Tax Total Assets Source: Annual reports of PTCL Currently PTCL has 19 registered unions..The union which is acting as CBA is â€Å"Pakistan Telecommunication employee union† whereas all other unions are non CBA unions. At the time of privatization about 57000 employees were serving PTCL. But after privatization, new management laid off 30,000 employees by giving Voluntarily Separation Scheme VSS. At present Multan Telecomm Region (MTR) covers area from Mian Channu to DG Khan and Rahim Yaar Khan. It is divided into two wings. One wing is of Regional General Manager wing which has 982 employees. Other wing is of GM Technical Multan which has 335 employees.Other than these wings another small wing is of SM Consumer Sales Multan which has 45 employees. So at present total numbers of employees work ing in all wings in Multan region are about 1362. PTCL is taken as case study because it could provide the glimpse of previously public sector organization and now as private sector organization. Unions are working in PTCL since long and had been very strong in past. They have also played crucial role at the time of privatization as well. 194 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 1 IV. MethodologyA survey through questionnaires method was used to capture the primary data for this study. The research is done at Multan Region of PTCL. A sample size of 300 employees from different departments of PTCL of all its three wings has been selected by using the random sampling technique. The questionnaire was distributed to each participant in person. Firstly few open ended questions were included to enable participants to express their general opinions regarding PTCL management and union relations and then all close ended questions (Table 5) were asked to have specific answers. The response rate to the questions was 90%.The opinions of the participants are measured by obtaining the respondents extent of agreement with the questions. The extent of agreement was measured through Likert scale ranging from 5= strongly agreed to 1= strongly disagreed. The researchers have tried to find out the facts relating to following research questions. i. ii. iii. What role union played in Telecom Industry over the time (especially in PTCL)? What role union played in PTCL at the time of privatization of PTCL and then after? What is the current role of union in PTCL The questions wise results of the study are described below.Table 5 Summary of response to survey questions. No 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 Statement Are you satisfied with the role of unions before privatization? Do you think that CBA at the time of Privatization has performed his role effectively? Are you satisfied with the role of union currently? Are you satisfied with the role of union to stop layoff of employees after pr ivatization? Does your union take effective actions against the rehiring of voluntarily separated employees? Do you think that the rehiring of voluntarily separated employees was in the best interest of PTCL?Do you think that the pre privatization PTCL was good as compared to Post Privatization PTCL? Do you think that union’s role for Agree% 80 52 75 32 20 30 68% 74% Neither% 10 10 5 16 10 0 5 6 Disagree 10 38% 52% 52% 70% 70% 27% 20% V. Results and Discussions Muhammad Shaukat Malik, A. B. Basit, Ahmad Kamal Qazi 195 10 employee’s job security was better before privatization of PTCL? Are you satisfied with the union’s role towards current working environment of PTCL? 26 10 64% It is evident from the above results that union role in PTCL is diminishing over the time.It played very effective role for welfare and betterment of employees in the past but currently the state of affairs is not very good. Majority of the employees are dissatisfied with their performanc e. At the time of privatization, the role of CBA and UAC (Union Action Committee was very midtrial. They were firstly against privatization and have been fighting for three months and then suddenly one day they accepted privatization deal on term and conditions of the government. Employees feel that monopolistic status of PTCL was in the best interest of customers.Employees are also not so happy with rehiring of employee previously laid off under voluntarily retirement schemes, as they feel that these rehired contractual employees are enjoying dual benefits i-e benefits of retirement and new contracts. They are of the opinion that new hiring if so necessary should be done from youngsters having new skills to manage latest equipment installed in PTCL. Employees also feel that union is not doing any thing for their job security. Job stress created through increased work load is another major problem employees are facing currently.Now lower level employees give more preference to the m anagement for the resolution of their issues instead of unions. Employees have lost their fate that unions would do something for their betterment. Now employees are avoiding joining unions and believe on direct relationship with its management. There was a time when union in PTCL was thought to be the true representative of employees and only way for their growth. But on the critical occasion of privatization of PTCL, VSS and rehiring of VSS opted employees, the betraying role of union and CBA has dissatisfied them lot.The Union has now lost trust of employees. The management is becoming strong day by day through different measures. Some of the union’s representatives either are suspended or transferred, waiting for posting etc. But the union leaders are not paying any attention to their problems. That’s why employee’s commitment with the union has also been reduced. The management has successfully neutralized the power of union by reducing the strength of empl oyees. By lying off about 30,000 employees, management successfully took away the real strength of unions.Now they are trying different tactics in order to create hindrances in the activities of union. These tactics involve dismissing the employees participating in union activities, proper check and balance on the attendance of employees and indulging every employee with high work load. Another recent step taken by management to weaken the unions is giving the non-management employees, the cadre of management. in BPS-17. This conversion of cadre has made almost 3000 196 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 1 employees unable to talk part in union’s activities.Therefore, a tug of war is going on between the typical government culture already prevailing in PTCL and a corporate culture which the new management is trying to enforce in PTCL. VI. Conclusion & Recommendations Unions in any organization work for the benefits of the employees. The most important roles whic h unions are meant to play are to reduce income inequality, improve working conditions for employees, protecting the rights of the working class, ensure homogenous income to the workers by providing them employment opportunities etc.But over the period of time, unions failed to perform their roles effectively, therefore, they are facing decline in their popularity and membership. Internationally, the trend of unions in organization is diminishing. PTCL is taken as case study because it could provide the glimpse of previously public sector organization and now working as private sector organization. Unions is working in PTCL since long and had played crucial role in its privatization It could provide the perfect information about the unions involvement and recent trends in public and private organization. Now management has upheld the lower level of mployees from the union activities by giving them status of more significance within the organization. Internationally and in Pakistan t oo, unions are very strong in public sector organizations as compared to private sector companies. In Pakistan Telecom Sector, unions exist only in PTCL. In PTCL, union remained very powerful before privatization. But after privatization since 2006, the new management has cut down union power by implementing different polices. The present management has been able to divert unions away from interest of employees by facilitating the top level leaders for their own interests.This thing has sabotaged the image of unions among employees. The employees feel more confident now with the commitment of the management rather than union. Majority of employees of PTCL now feel that leaders are not sincere with them. Employees think that during privatization union did not play its effective role as was expected. They blame that only top leaders of unions have ripe the fruits of employees' efforts but no demand of employees is fulfilled in true sense during privatization process. So these things h ave created mistrust between employees and union.That mistrust was truly endorsed when union call strike for pay rise in 2009 and majority of employees did not participate. Similarly, in 2010 referendum, 30% of the total employees have not participated at all. The management through different tactics is making unions ineffective. Management is not taking direct steps to reduce union’s strength but with indirect measures and back channel diplomacy, they are meeting its ultimate objective to wipe away unions from PTCL. The way union is working on other side, it is not seen too far. Muhammad Shaukat Malik, A. B. Basit, Ahmad Kamal Qazi 197Conclusively saying, union image as the protector of working class has been affected when union leaders use the plate form of union to get the advantage for themselves. Union has made themselves worth less in PTCL due to their own acts. They may not be able to get any support from employees in future. They must have to change the current strate gies and the top leaders have to work beyond their personal interests to regain the powers. They will have to work for the welfare of the employees as past. Otherwise, unions will be simply wiped off from PTCL like it happened in some other organizations hich have been privatized like PTCL. References Akhtar, M. H. (2009). The Impact of Macroeconomic Factors and Policy Issues on Telecom Sector Performance in Pakistan: An Econometric Analysis, Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences. 29(2), 163-174. Akteruzzaman, M. (2006). Globalization: issues and Challenges for Trader Union Movement. The Social Sciences, 1(I), 29-34. Ali, I. (1994). Structure of Telecommunications Sector in Pakistan. CMER Working Paper Series, Working Paper No 94-02, 1-25. Allen, W. C. (2005). History of Slave Laborers in the Construction of the United States Capitol. The Architect of the Capit, 1-27.Bawa, and Hashmi, (2010). Labor Unionization in Pakistan – History ; Trends. Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, 2(2), 78-82. Belman, D. L. and Voos P. B. (1993). Wage effects of increased union coverage: Methodological Considerations and new evidence. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 46(2), 368-380. Blanchflower, D. G. and Bryson A. (2007). The wage impact of trade unions in the UK public and private sectors. The Institute for the Study of Labor, Discussion Paper No 3055, 1-23. Candland, (2007). Labor, Democratization and Development in India and Pakistan. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 48(1), 1-13.Cunniah, D. (2007). The role of trade unions in workers’ education: The key to trade union capacity building. International Labor Office, 4, 1-42. Donas, B. (2006). Why Professional Unions Make Good Conflict Management Partners. Workplace Fairness Journal. Ebbinghaus, B. (2002). Trade unions’ changing role. EU Paper Series, 2-32. Edward, C. (2010). Public-Sector Unions. Tax ; Budget bulletin no 61. 198 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 31, No. 1 Farbar , H. S. (2001). Notes on the Economics of Labor Unions. Princetion University Industrial Relations Section Working Paper # 452, 1-24.Fernie, S, Metcalf, D. (2005). Trade unions: resurgence or demise?. Centre Piece Summer Edition. Goerke, L. , Pannenberg, M. (2010). Trade Union Membership and Dismissals. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Discussion Paper No. 5222, 17-19. Gompers, S. (2009). Where trade unions are most firmly organized, there are the rights of people most respected. South-Western/Cengage Learning, A 1-11. Ghosh, P. , Nandan, S. and Gupta, A. (2009). The Changing Role of Trade Union in India, A Case Study of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTCP), Unchahar. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 14(1), 3757.Govt defends privatization of PTCL amid protests, Press Article, Daily Times 14, 2005. Retrieved from http://www. dawn. com/2005/06/14/top7. htm. Hunter, R. P. (1999). Disadvantage of Union Representation. Hamilton, M. and Anderson, L. D. (1999). labor un ions and class actions: The union perspective on Collective litigation. American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law. Irfan, M. (2008). Pakistan’s Wage Structure. Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, 1-47. Levine, P. (2001). The Legitimacy of Labor. Hofstra Labor ; employment Law Journal, 18, 527. Metcalf, L. (2006).Trade unions in China. Centre Piece Summer Magazine. Mohar, J. G. (2007). Trade unions and the law-history and a way forward?. Morris, R. L. (2002). Trade Unions and Globalization. International Labor Organization, 1-29. Pantuosco, L. J. (2008). The effect of public and private unions on state economic activity: evaluating the Benefits to organized workers, policymakers, and companies. Journal of Business ; Economics Research, 6(2), 27-40. Muhammad Shaukat Malik, A. B. Basit, Ahmad Kamal Qazi 199 Perlman, S. (1922). A History of Trade Unions in the United States. Social Science Text Book. Prit, M. (2007).Labor Unions, U. S. , History. Rehma n, S. (2003). Collective Bargaining and Wage Determination. Reynolds, M. (2009). A history of Labor Unions from Colonial Times. Mises Daily. Shah, S. K. (2010). Labor Policy 2010. Ministry of Labor and Manpower Pakistan. Sherk, J. (2009). What Unions Do: How Labor Unions Affect jobs and the Economy. Backgrounder, 2275, 1-17. Somavia, j (2008). Pakistan decent work country program. International labor office, web version. Spear, B. (2005). Negative Effects of labor unions. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/list_6683091_negative-effects-laborunions. html#ixzz0usiJ08Q7.

Harriet Tubm An African American Abolitionist And...

Harriet Tubman was an African-American abolitionist and humanitarian. Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland around 1820-1825 and died in Boston, Massachusetts of pneumonia in 1913. She was born into slavery, but successfully escaped in 1849 to become a leading abolitionist, yet she returned many times to rescue both family members and non-relatives from the plantation system. She led hundreds of slaves to freedom in the North as the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, an elaborate secret network of safe houses organized to help slaves get to the north and escape slavery. Harriet Tubman born â€Å"Araminta Harriet Ross†, was born into a difficult lifestyle because both her parents, Harriet Green and Benn Ross,†¦show more content†¦Although similar circumstances applied to Harriet Green and her children, the individuals who owned them decided not to free them. Despite being free, Ben had little power to challenge their decision. In 1844, Ross married a free black man named John Tubman. Although little is known about their marriage, she adopted his last name. Any children they might have had would have been considered enslaved, because the mother’s status dictated that of any offspring. Araminta changed her name to Harriet around the time of her marriage with John, it is believed she did this to honor her mother. In 1849, Harriet’s owner came down with illness that ended in her death. In fear that she was going to be sold and her family was going to be torn part, Harriet Tubman decided to run away. She also feared for own her fate as an injured and sick slave of low economic value. She initially fled with two of her brothers, Ben and Henry, but they both changed their mind and returned to the planation after a notice was published in the Cambridge Democrat offering a $300 reward for the return of the runaway slaves. Harriet Tubman used the Underground Railroad to travel about ninety miles to Philadelphia, only walking at night to avoid being seen and to follow the North Star, she made her way to Pennsylvania and then Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, she found work and saved money. The