NBC staff demand 8% Staff members at the national broadcaster on Friday held a peaceful demonstration during lunch hour demanding an 8% salary increase. In a petition the employees of Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) said they have been waiting patiently for over six months without positive feedback from the board on the conclusion of salary negotiations.
According to the petition the employees, through their union the Namibia Public Worker''s Union (Napwu), have been engaged in negotiations for improvement in both salaries and conditions of service for the financial year 2016/17.
“Employees in the meantime suffered the consequences of not having had any salary increment during the financial year 2015/16 and are now facing the possibility of losing out during this financial year again,” the statement read.
It further stated that employees now demand that NBC settle and implement the wages and salaries increase demanded at 8% without delay as this has been long overdue.
The petition also stated that the increase is reasonable since no salary increments were granted during the previous year.
“Hence we give NBC time only until Friday, 21 October 2016, to resolve this matter, failure of which we will follow the procedures set in the law to seek remedy through dispute resolutions procedures,” the petition read.
Meanwhile, chief human resources officer Vezenga Kauraisa said the broadcaster has been under financial pressure after its government subsidy was cut by about N$100 million.
But, despite this, Kauraisa added, this should be seen as a wake-up call for NBC as a whole to break chains of dependency and find alternative ways to supplement the government subsidy.
Kauraisa also strongly appealed to Namibians to start paying their television licences.
“It is unfortunate that the implementation of the salary increases is taking longer than expected because of the revenue challenges I have mentioned. Please note that management is committed to honour our commitments but there should be first money in the bank as a result of our collective efforts,” said Kauraisa.
JEMIMA BEUKES