SAO TOME, Oct. 31 — Sao Tome and Principe’s National Assembly canceled its plenary session scheduled for Friday, due to the ongoing strike of state-owned media workers.
Workers from Radio Nacional, Televisao Santomense and STP-Press have launched an indefinite strike on Wednesday morning after the government allegedly failed to comply with a memorandum of understanding signed on Sept. 10, according to the union president, Jorge Do’O.
“We began this strike this morning across the state media for an indefinite period, as stated in the pre-strike notice previously submitted to the government,” Jorge told STP-Press. Under the Sept. 10 memorandum, the union had publicly suspended a previous strike that had been scheduled to start at on Sept. 11.
In return, the government committed to submit within 20 days to the union a draft decree-law to revise the legal framework of the audiovisual tax and improve the revenue management system of state media.
The memorandum also included the creation of a new bank account specifically for audiovisual tax deposits, the inclusion of overtime payments, and the definition of percentages to be allocated to improvements and investments in infrastructure and equipment.
The union also complains lack of transparency in the management of the audiovisual tax paid by citizens through bills issued by the state-owned water and electricity company EMAE. (Xinhua)
