ZNBC unionized employees have resolved to drag management to court over the broadcaster’s failure to increase their salaries for the year 2018.

In an interview with News Diggers! Zambia Union of Broadcasters and other Information Disseminators (ZUBID) Andrew Mpandamwike said if management has failed to run the institution, they should give chance to capable individuals to do so.

Late last year, the union had declared a dispute after the two could not reach a consensus on their negotiations.

“It’s true; we’ve been negotiating for the past one year [and] nothing seems to be coming out of these negotiations. So, as a union, we had a meeting with the general membership at ZNBC and we agreed that we take the case to the Industrial Relations Court. So, in short, we have agreed that we are going to drag management to court for the failed 2018 negotiations,” Mpandamwike narrated.

He said management has been saying that it had no capacity to increase workers’ salaries as the company is currently not doing well financially.

“We have [been] negotiating with management over the review of collective agreements for 2018, but management has insisted that they have no capacity to increase our salaries [and that] the company is not doing very fine; they don’t have money. So, [they are saying that] they can’t give us an increment, but we believe they should have reviewed the company,” he explained.

And Mpandamwike said if management failed to run the company, others who are capable should be given chance.

“If they have failed to manage the company, then they should leave and give other people who are capable of running the company because ZNBC has always given an increment, even in a year when economic conditions are not good. But for them to refuse, it means either they have failed [and] they should give chance to others to come and run. This is a public company, and we cannot have workers who are in a public company and they are malnourished, no! [We had our last increment in the 2017 financial year [but for] 2018, we didn’t have anything,” complained Mpandamwike.