Salary delay: Geo staffers stage token strike

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 22 December 2017

Staff members at Geo TV protested in Islamabad over delayed salary payments, with similar actions reported in Karachi and Peshawar. The situation has raised concerns among the employees regarding financial stability.

Summary

ISLAMABAD – Geo TV staff members in Islamabad Friday staged a token strike in protest over inordinate delay in payment of salaries.

There was also reportedly a similar strike at the channel's Karachi and Peshawar offices.

Insiders tell JournalismPakistan.com that salaries for November have still not been disbursed with December also coming to a close. The salaries for October were paid in late November, they say.

The strike lasted a few hours and was called off only after assurances by some senior officials.

One staffer in Islamabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the delay in disbursing salaries was an economic murder of employees. “We are never told when we will get our salaries; such uncertain situation is frustrating for us all.”

The staffers are now demanding they be paid two months of salaries together.

Meanwhile, office-bearers of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) visited the Geo offices in Islamabad to express solidarity with the employees.

KEY POINTS:

• Geo TV staff protested due to unpaid salaries.
• Strikes occurred simultaneously in Islamabad, Karachi, and Peshawar.
• Employees demand payment of two months' salaries.
• Senior officials provided assurances to end the protest.
• Journalist unions showed support for the striking staff.