NBC employees threaten to switch off Otjiwarongo station

OTJIWARONGO, 16 AUG  – Staff members of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) at Otjiwarongo on Thursday threatened to shut down the radio and television station here if their salary demands are not met by their management.
Nine NBC employees held a peaceful demonstration outside the building over the lunch hour, demanding their salary demands of 6 per cent.
They form part of the broader NBC employees across the country who demand the increment across the board.
Employee shop steward, Obed Kaveterua who headed the demonstration at Otjiwarongo, told Nampa the corporation’s management “must get serious” and increase their salaries.
The employees gave their management seven working days to make a decision on their demands.
“We are going to switch off this station by next Thursday or even before that,” said Kaveterua.
He said the NBC employees did not receive any salary increase in the 2016/17 financial year to match the escalating cost of living.
Kaveterua said the 6 per cent salary increase should be backdated to April 2017.
Employees working on contract at the station also called on the NBC management to employ them permanently, saying the contract system is equivalent to exploitation.
NBC Otjiwarongo Acting Station Manager, Petronella Shipanga did not take part in the demonstration. She told this agency that the employees just expressed their views and opinions through their demonstration.
“They, however, did not hand over any petition to me,” Shipanga said.

NAMPA