Former Standard Media Group employees have announced plans to hold major demonstrations beginning Wednesday, April 9, to demand payment of their salary arrears.
In a statement on Wednesday morning, the former employees said they would be submitting a formal request to the police for a permit to protest against the media house.
The ex-workers, while expressing their outrage, accused the company of a systematic pattern of industrial misconduct, including unpaid salary arrears and lack of severance pay after they we rendered redundant.
According to the aggrieved journalists, the delays in salary payments had negatively impacted them, leaving their families in financial distress and without access to vital services.
They also accused the media outlet of allegedly failing to remit critical deductions from employees' payslips, including contributions to Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCOS), pension and taxes.
While lamenting, the former employees revealed that they had gone for eight months without a salary despite frequent promises by the company to settle the debt.
They further disclosed that in the most recent redundancy exercise, employees were coerced and duped into signing and accepting a one-year payment plan, which never came.
"Despite numerous promises of initial payments by September 30 2024, no funds have been disbursed, creating further distress for those affected," lamented a former Standard Group employee.
"Our former colleagues and their families are facing unprecedented hardship due to the company's failure to honor its legal obligations. We demand accountability and immediate action to rectify this gross misconduct," said another journalist from the media house.
To help address their plights, the former workers are now calling on the government, labour unions, relevant stakeholders in the media industry and the public to support their pursuit of justice.
This is not the first time the journalists have come out to demand their pay. In December last year, the company's former employees staged demonstrations outside the company premises over unpaid arrears.
Armed with whistles and huge placards, the journalists blocked the company's gate along the Mombasa Road, demanding the immediate disbursement of their money.
