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Nov. 7, 2022

OWN CORRESPONDENT

2 min read

PC FM staff ordered to return to air

PC FM staff ordered to return to air

Story highlights

    Unhappy workers demand a 20 percent salary increase
    Radio station says the workers are well taken care of

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DISGRUNTLED People’s Choice FM (PC FM) workers have been ordered to return to work while their dispute over a salary increase with management is being addressed by the Directorate on Dispute Prevention Resolution (DDPR).

The order was made on Friday last week by the Labour Court after the employees approached the court seeking an order to stop the station’s management from hiring new staff until the matter has been accordingly resolved.

Lesotho Workers Association (LEWA) Secretary General, Hlalefang Seoaholimo said after approaching the Labour Court, the workers who were planning a strike were instructed to temporarily suspend the industrial action while the matter was referred to the DDPR for determination.

He said the court instructed the DDPR to determine whether or not it was appropriate for the station’s supervisors to also be part of the mass action.

Seoaholimo said since no time frame had been given for the DDPR to decide on the matter, LEWA was last week already preparing to file papers in the Labour Court in order to treat the case as an urgent application.

“We are already in the process of filing papers in the Labour Court to instruct the DDPR to treat this case as urgent,” he said.

LEWA as PC FM representatives has been at loggerheads with the station’s management to secure a 20 percent salary increase and improved working conditions for the employees.
After the two parties reached a deadlock, LEWA threatened to embark on an industrial action, which was supposed to begin on Friday last week.
But at the twist of events, the radio station management threatened to hire new staff if the strike could go ahead to ensure that the station was not held at ransom.

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In a statement released last month, PC FM management showed that its staff had no reason to embark on the planned strike after being given a 10 percent salary increase last year and that during the COVID-19-induced lockdown period, the staff received full salaries despite working on shifts.

The station further claims to have given the staff end-of-year bonuses in 2021. - LeNA

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