PFUJ to Geo, others: Pay off staff salaries or else
JournalismPakistan.com | Published: 1 May 2015
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The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) is demanding that news organizations clear pending staff salaries. Protests will begin if salaries are not paid within a week.Summary
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) is planning to write letters to all news organizations including Geo News and Capital TV urging them to clear pending salaries of their staff.
Talking to JournalismPakistan.com, PFUJ President Afzal Butt said that his union would start regular protest demonstrations against all news organizations that fail to pay outstanding dues/salaries to their employees within a week.
“In a day or two, we’ll give a one-week deadline to Geo News management through an official letter to clear all pending dues of its staff; otherwise protests will be organized against it on daily basis,” he said.
Earlier, the PFUJ gave a deadline to Geo News management to pay off salaries/dues by the end of April but the demand was not met.
“The backlog of salaries now stands at two months; lower staff is without salaries for three to four months ,” an insider tells JournalismPakistan.com.
Geo has been suffering an apparent financial crunch since April last year but it turned serious when upcoming media group BOL began hiring Geo employees offering lucrative salaries and packages.
“Geo tried to stop its staff joining BOL News by giving them 200 percent raise but this has not seemed to have worked,” the insider said.
KEY POINTS:
- PFUJ plans to send letters to news organizations about unpaid salaries.
- Protests against non-compliant organizations will start in a week.
- Geo News staff have not received salaries for two to four months.
- Geo is experiencing financial issues exacerbated by competition from BOL.
- Previous deadlines for salary payment have not been met.
