At a rally in Pristina, unions said staff at Radio Television of Kosovo will take strike action if they have not received their October salaries by Monday.
Employees of the public broadcaster in Kosovo, Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK, staged a protest on Thursday, demanding their overdue salaries and warning of a one-hour strike on Monday if they do not receive their October salaries by then.
Gezim Bimbashi, from the RTK union, said that the “situation at RTK has worsened, while institutions continue to remain silent. Over 700 families of RTK employees are dealing with the problem of survival.”
Parliament allocates a budget for RTK in two installments each year. However, because of the long delay in inaugurating the parliament since the February 14 parliamentary elections, RTK employees had a similar issue with not receiving their wages in July.
The acting government allocated a budget for RTK for three months. Staff want the acting government to do the same again, in order to halt the crisis at the broadcaster.
“This situation can be immediately resolved without delay with a decision of the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. All the other justifications for [the need for parliamentary] commissions or other procedures are battles within [the political] parties. Do not include RTK employees in political battles. We are not members of any party. We are employees requesting what is ours by law,” Bimbashi said.
He added that if they are not paid by Monday, alongside the one-hour strike, RTK employees will not cover “any event of a political character”.
Atdhe Hykolli, head of the Allied Union of Kosovo Unions, supported the RTK protest, calling on Kurti to find a solution. “We are not asking today for luxury or a privilege, we are asking for salaries for our work,” he said.
RTK employees also protested on Monday in front of parliament in Pristina. They are hoping that if lawmakers do not approve RTK’s latest three-month report to parliament, which authorises the budget to pay their salaries, then the acting government will step in to loan the budget money to RTK for three months, as it did in a similar situation in August this year.
Parliament speaker Dimal Basha, who is from Kurti’s party, joined them. “I came here to show solidarity with the RTK workers, over 700 of whom are waiting for their salaries and have been unjustly left without salaries. However, it is also important for me to inform you as the speaker … that I have invited all political entities to take the necessary steps to reach an understanding on the approval of the [RTK] report.”
Basha said that “all the MPs who refuse to vote for the approval of the report should listen to reason, because there is no reason [for the delay]. We have a constituted parliament – the report is awaited and must be approved.”
Source: BalkanInsight
