Unionised and Senior Management Employees at the National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research have staged a peaceful protest demanding payment of two months’ salary arrears.
The Workers are owed salaries for August and September 2019.
On 20th September, a General meeting was held at the NISIR Offices and the affected employees resolved to demand the payment of the two months’ salary arrears.
Speaking on behalf of the affected workers, The University of Zambia and Allied Workers Union General Secretary Mulabika Willa said the workers are displeased with the continued delay by government to pay salaries since October last year.
Mr Willa said the employees have noted with annoyance the trend where they now have to hold general meetings in order for them to plead with management to pay them salaries.
He has since given government a two days ultimatum to pay the two months’ salary arrears failure to which any action deemed appropriate will be taken.
Mr. Willa said the Employees are further demanding that going forward, NISIR Management should be paying their salaries on 21st of every month in line with the agree conditions of service failure to which action will be taken.
A nation that does not value education, research and science is doomed.
There’s no financial crisis we hv been told, but why this problem?. And yet they want to increase the number of constituencies and people are urging them on.
This is very true, the government has really neglected Research and development and NISIR being a National Research Institute can’t be left to die like that due to luck of funding. This is so disappointing that the only President who seemed to care about NISIR by then NCSR is Dr. Kenneth Kaunda knowing that the backbone of this nation is through Research and development.
Let’s revamp the mother of all these small Research Institutes.
It may require a coordinated national protest by all affected workers, retirees, farmers and all those that have pending payments to rattle leadership with a voice that will reverberate across the country for action to be taken! These pocket protests may not yield the desired result! A mass protest will be seen as threatening votes against the leadership! With visible wastage of resources it’s scandalous for people to be denied dues that they have an entitlement to!
If there is no money to pay staff salaries, do you think there’s money for anything else? It follows NISIR can’t pay for electricity and other supplies. They hv probably no cleaning chemicals to keep toilets clean, no loo paper , no nothing. It follows no research is going on.
It’s chipantepante governance by lungu and his gang.
Diverting money like a lottery as to who gets paid and who does not untill emptied funds from the toll gates are replenished…..
To mske matters worse kariba dam is not full, ZESCO the PF cash cow is also empty of funds….
In the PF government, how many people are actually smart enough to understand the importance of science and technology?? for them they are used to understanding the very basic priciples of doing things,,,chitemene system, slash, burn plant a seed and wait for rain,,if it does not come, no plan b, ati we dont control the weather…as if Egypt controls their weather…so guys have faith day one mukafola
At the core of this problem is the Zambian populace that is very ok with providing services and not getting paid. There is always money for vitenges and by elections, always but not salaries for workers, until such time that Zambians begin to see how nonsensical this whole thing is, they will continue to suffer. Mwebantu shibukeni