On Sunday, the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) announced that it will force a total shutdown of operations of Standard Group in the next 14 days if the company fails to meet its four demands.
Holding a press conference on Sunday, the union issued a 14-day strike notice to the Cabinet Secretary for Labour to boycott work.
KUJ, as a result, sought the company to settle salary arrears to its staff, some of whom are reportedly yet to be paid for seven months.
"In this regard, we demand that the company comes up with an acceptable payment plan to clear the arrears failure to which staff will withdraw their labour," Eric Oduor, KUJ Secretary General, told the press.
The union further demands the company to provide Sacco savings contributed by its employees after accusing it of defying a directive from Sacco's regulator to give this matter priority in its debt-settling plan.
The journalists further demanded that the company remove a cap on medical claims and stop capturing the biometric data of staff to enforce a new directive of reporting time.
"For seven months now, staff at the Standard Group PLC, the oldest media house in this part of the world, have gone through untold sufferings due to unpaid salaries despite hard economic times in the country," Oduor added.
"The Kenya Union of Journalists, therefore, is demanding an immediate response from the following issues failure to which we shall force a total shutdown of operations of Standard Group PLC in the next 14 days. In this regard, we have issued a 14-day strike notice to the Cabinet Secretary for Labour on our intention to stage a work boycott over the following issues."
The union, therefore, called on the board of directors at the company to help alleviate the suffering of the journalists.
"The buck stops with the board of directors to step in and save the staff from the sufferings," the history demanded.
"History will judge you harshly for allowing whatever is happening in the oldest media company in the region. We put on notice all media companies in the country to pay their journalists because this affects media freedom. Enough is enough!"
Earlier, the media house's staff from Radio Maisha, Spice FM, Berur FM, and Vybez Radio vowed to boycott work on July 3 this year should the company fail to clear outstanding salaries arrears.
“The matter of unpaid regular salary and mounting arrears as you’re aware is one of urgency. As a department - we need to have this matter addressed,” the radio team demanded.
