Times of Zambia workers plan to go on strike next week over unpaid salaries

In a joint signed statement by Zambia Union of Journalists Chapel presidents for Lusaka, KITWE and Ndola, the trio says the decision was taken during meetings held this week in all the three chapels.

They state that the decision to withdraw labour next week has been taken to push management to find money to clear the backlog of salaries.

They state that while their members are alive to the fact that the Ministry of Finance has committed to pay K2.5 million owed to the company by various Government ministries, the commitment has not been demonstrated by actions.

They note that efforts by the Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ) national leadership and the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) which started about four months ago have not yielded tangible results apart from a verbal commitment from the Ministry of Finance that the money owed to the company by various Government institutions would be released.

They add that it is the views of the unionised employees that Times Printpak Management has not done enough to follow up the matter apart from the efforts by the Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leadership that has managed to see the Secretary to the Treasury.

They point out that on the other hand, employees have continued to put in 100 per cent effort as demanded by Management despite not getting their monthly salaries for four months.

They have also appealed to the Ministry of Information to state whether and when they would recapitalise the company, stating that it is no longer a secret that the company cannot survive on its generated income.

The statement has been signed by ZUJ chapel presidents for Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola Syvester Mwale,Gunston Chol and Maya Ntanda respectively .