Maravi

ZNBC staff protest against management, board

ZNBC staff protest against management, board
Written by Chibaula Silwamba and Katwishi Bwalya
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:24:35 AM

UNIONISED workers at ZNBC yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration against the management and board for allegedly failing to manage the corporation, forcing their director general Joseph Salasini to lock himself up in his office with tight police protection. The irate workers followed Salasini and other senior managers to his office shortly upon his arrival from lunch.

The workers, through their union leader Simon Mwila revealed that they plan to petition President Rupiah Banda demanding for the dissolution of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) management and board of directors for alleged gross failure to manage the corporation and awarding themselves huge allowances while denying the unionised workers similar conditions of service.

The workers who camped just at the entrance of ZNBC started jeering at Salasini when he arrived from lunch.

The workers forced Salasini to pass on the lawn for him to enter the building on his way to his office.

Asked for comment on the workers' plans to petition the President on his failure to manage the corporation, Salasini said he was not unsettled by the action.

"Zambia is a free world, so they can write. Yah!" said Salasini, who was shaking, as he walked to his office. "There is no money."

The workers followed Salasini to his office. As soon as he entered his office with police escort, Salasini locked it.

The workers banged the doors and chanted anti-management slogans as they walked to Salasini's office where they camped.

"Achoke! Achoke! Abash Salasini! Abash management!" the workers shouted. "Choka! Choka! Choka! [Come out! Come out!]"

Others carried placards, which read: "The management and the board must go!! The board has failed to supervise management!! Head of TV licence Alfeyo zwaah[go] !! D.M zwaah! Hon Shikapwasha help us!! 135% housing allowance tax free for management imagine!!"

Some workers were threatening to break the door while others pleaded with them not to do so.

"No violence!" they shouted. "Salasini Choka! Choka!"

At that point four more police officers came in to reinforce their colleagues who were already inside Salasini's office.

The workers continued to denounce Salasini and his fellow directors.

"We will sleep here!" they shouted. The workers put placards against the door to Salasini's office and those of other directors.

Earlier, Zambia Union of Broadcasters and other Information Disseminators (ZUBID) leader Mwila said the workers were considering petitioning President Banda over the matter.

"We want management to be removed for their failure to manage the corporation. We had a general meeting and members resolved that the entire board and management be dismissed because they have totally failed to run this institution. It's a sit-in protest because we want the higher authorities to understand our plight, at least to get rid of the board and management," Mwila said. "The petition may not go to the minister; we are still considering, it may even go to somebody who is higher than the minister."

Asked if the person higher than the minister he was referring to was the President, Mwila responded: "It's possible. We are also exploring that possibility that we take it to the President instead of the minister."

He wondered why management had refused to improve conditions of service for unionised workers when managers and directors had given themselves hefty conditions of service.

"What can amount to mismanagement of funds is that ZNBC management awards themselves housing allowance of 135 per cent and then they get all that and lump it to their salaries and it becomes one package; that is mismanagement because such kind of resources are supposed to be paid evenly so that even unionised workers also benefit," he said. "We [unionised workers] only asked for K700,000 across the board but management is not willing to give us anything. Zero increase that is what they say. Unionised workers get between K200,000 and K500,000 housing allowance."

And in a joint petition by ZUBID and the National Union for Communication Workers, the workers condemned the 135 per cent housing allowance management awarded itself.

"We the undersigned unionised members of staff of ZNBC during a meeting held in the Cinema Hall of ZNBC on Tuesday, 14th April 2009, do hereby resolve to petition over the board and management gross failure to manage the affairs of the corporation," read the petition.

They claimed that the management and the board were to blame for the poor programming and reception currently being experienced by ZNBC.

The workers further demanded for the tribunal to be set to investigate the board and management over the alleged financial irregularities facing ZNBC.

Some of the contents in the petition include salary harmonisation between management and the workers, review of the 135 per cent housing allowance for management, tribunal to investigate management among others.

In the morning, the workers had forced Salasini, who was reluctant to address them, out of his office for a meeting with them.

The slogan chanting workers sung anti-management songs with placards reading Abash Paraffin [reference to Joseph Salasini] with other placards reading: "RB help us!"

During a meeting with Salasini, the workers openly told him that he and other directors had failed to run the affairs of the corporation.

Salasini told the workers that their salaries could not be reviewed because of the credit crunch, which had not spared ZNBC.

"The effect of the global crisis is with us. In the last six to eight months, we have seen a reduction on advertising space on the main news from 11 minutes to three-four minutes which has seen a reduction in our revenue as very few people are advertising with us due to the economic crunch," Salasini said.

However, he said the coming of the new TV channel would ease the situation as more people were expected to advertise on the new channel to increase the revenue base for the company.

Salasini said the financial position of the company was very bad and urged the workers to be patient.

But the workers were not amused by Salasini's address, which they said did not give them any hope.

"I have been working for this company for 15 years and I have seen that management is just interested in uplifting their plight at the expense of the workers.... I think you have failed and shame on you," said one of the workers amid applauds from the other employees.

The workers also urged management to ensure that there was no interference from politicians in the affairs of ZNBC.

"It is high time you tell politicians ...and don't allow any politicians ... any nonentity to come on TV for nothing because if politicians are in charge even the coming of channel two will not solve anything," said one worker. "Just like the other day during the indaba, we were forced to suspend the running of adverts just to accommodate the live coverage of the indaba and do you think clients would be happy with that? These are some of the things that are making us lose on our clients."

Labels: ZNBC

posted by MrK @ 2:25 AM