• People’s Unity alleges privatisation bidding process lacked transparency; employees barred from participation • Claims collective bargaining agent has expertise to turn around loss-making flag carrier ISLAMABAD: In what appeared to be a lost battle, the PIA Employees’ Combined Bargaining Agent (CBA), People’s Unity, has asked the government to put on hold the signing of the airline’s share purchase agreement (SPA) and the transfer of management control to the Arif Habib-led consortium until consideration of its reservations and a counter-offer. In a letter to PIA’s board of directors, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Privatisation, the union alleged that the privatisation process culminating in the bidding was non-transparent, claiming that employees were not allowed to participate. It said the CBA had the expertise to turn around the loss-making national carrier through professional management and a competent board. People’s Unity President Hidayatullah Khan said the government was repeating “the blunder” of selling the airliner to Arif Habib Group, whose earlier takeover attempt of Pakistan Steel Mills was declared illegal by the Supreme Court two decades ago and which had only recently penalised by the Competition Commission of Pakistan for cartelisation in steel sector. The union said that, as the CBA, it represented employees and was a key stakeholder. “We applied to participate in the bidding process for healthy competition but were declined by the Privatisation Commission,” Mr Khan said. He added that the union had “serious reservations” about the privatisation of Pakis­tan International Airlines Corporation Ltd (PIACL) and the transfer of 75pc shares with management control, alleging the process lacked transparency and “valuation of assets”. The union further alleged that the process — from expression of interest to bidding, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) and the cabinet — was conducted “without due diligence”, and claimed it bypassed the Council of Common Interests (CCI). It also argued that the PIA Act , amended in 2016, authorised the conversion of PIA into a public limited company but did not permit “outright privatisation” through the transfer of majority control. The union demanded an urgent meeting before the SPA is signed and management transferred “to avoid repetition of blunders” in earlier privatisation efforts. Quoting the Supreme Court’s 2006 ruling in the PSM case, the union said the apex court had held that the privatisation process was vitiated by acts of omission and commission, including alleged violations of mandatory legal provisions and rules, which affected decisions on prequalification, valuation and the final terms offered and declared the process void and of no legal effect. People’s Unity also alleged that Arif Habib Group and its facilitators (Public Office Holders) remained unaccountable despite Supreme Court observation and prequalified for PIACL privatisation prior to disposal of its review petition in the PSM case, which is still pending in the Supreme Court. It alleged that Ayesha Steel Mills, owned by Arif Habib Group, and International Steels Ltd (ISL) were involved in cartelisation and penalised by the Competition Commission of Pakistan in October 2025 and were imposed a fine of Rs1.5 billion. The union contended that blaming PIA and its employees for the carrier’s performance was unjustified, arguing that outcomes were shaped by the commercial policies and priorities of management and the board. Threatening to challenge the case before the parliamentary committees and other appropriate courts of law, the People’s Unity pointed out that the PIA Act 1956 (as amended in 2016), the SOEs Act 2023 and the NAB Ordinance required management performance monitoring. “The PIA would have not been in this situation if any system of check and balance and performance monitoring exist,” it added. It claimed that the PIA workforce had better knowledge and experienced to turn around the airline, if a knowledgeable board of directors and professional management played its role without privatisation. The CBA offered to provide all technical and financial details with clarifications to the Ministry of Defence, Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), the Privatisation Commission and the parliamentary committees as to how to turn around the PIACL instead of “wasting time and money in unnecessary litigation”. Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2026