The Star reports that workers are gearing up to bring media house Tiso Blackstar to a standstill on Thursday if the company does not pay its black journalists their bonuses and salary increases.
According to Information Communication and Technology Union (Ictu) president Moeketse Lepheane, a line in the sand has been drawn between employees and senior management after the company took a hard stance on those embarking on industrial action. Ictu is an affiliate of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu). Lepheane advised that a last-ditch attempt by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry to resolve the matter would be made within the next 24 hours to try to find common ground between employees and senior management. The commission is housed at the same premises as Tiso Blackstar. The company’s black journalists have accused it of ill treatment, freezing salary increases and discriminatory pay disparities, all along racial lines. Lepheane indicated that the desired outcome for the union would be that the company should pay journalists their bonuses. He went on to state: “There are also pay disparities, where whites get paid more than black people. What we have uncovered is that from entry level, a white person will earn double what a black person earns within the first six months of employment.” Tiso Blackstar MD Andrew Gill claimed the company had, in fact, awarded bonuses to those divisions that had met the criteria, as well awarding discretionary bonuses to top performers.
- Read more of Ayanda Mdluli’s report on this story at SA Labour News
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