Staff at Angolan National Radio (RNA), the country’s largest media
outlet, are to go on strike on Friday, August 24, after the expiration of a
deadline for negotiations between the management and the workers.
On May 24 this year, the local branch of the Angolan Journalists’ Union
met with RNA employees, who collectively demanded as their main claim a salary
increase of around 300 percent.
The co-ordinator of the union committee, Luísa Rangel, highlighted the
desperate situation of many RNA professionals when she recalled how her
colleague, the reporter Luís Tara, had committed suicide a year ago. “He went
and stabbed himself in front of the chairman of the board’s office, to draw
attention to his unbearable situation as a result of the humiliating treatment
by the management.”
He was treated in hospital for his stab wounds, but then hanged himself
a few days later.
Ms. Rangel noted that “with more than 20 years of experience he was
earning only about 60,000 kwanzas (US$600).” By way of comparison, she pointed
out that a cleaner at Jornal de Angola, the state newspaper, earned
practically the same salary as Mr. Tara.
The RNA employees submitted their demands to management on June 26, with
copies to the Ministry of Social Communication, the MPLA and the President of
the Republic, Ms. Rangel said.
Apart from salary increases, the workers are demanding an end to the
illicit use of their social security contributions, which for several years
were used for private interests under the management of Manuel Rabelais. The
employees are also demanding pension payments to the families of deceased
colleagues who also had social security payments deducted from their salaries.
Regarding working conditions, Ms Rangel noted that “we don’t have
protection against workplace accidents”.
“We have cases where three or four journalists are using the same
computer because others are out of order. Sometimes the printing of news
bulletins is barely legible by the newsreaders because there is no toner for
the only printer we have in the newsroom,” she added.
The chairman of RNA’s board, Henrique dos Santos, wrote a letter on
August 9 expressing his interest in reaching an agreement with the employees.
“However, RNA, as a company dedicated to serving the public interest through
the delivery of a public radio service, has a special responsibility in the
efforts of the Angolan nation to conduct the electoral process in an exemplary
and peaceful way,” Mr. dos Santos argued.
He added that “the board of RNA is completely dedicated to the success
of the elections without in any way neglecting the concerns presented by the
staff.”
As a practical response, the RNA management asked only for the extension
of the deadline that the union had set down, for the negotiations to be held
“after elections have been held, on a date to be agreed upon in advance by the
parties.”
The workers’ committee rejected management’s request and gave an
extension of 20 days over and above the time limit laid down in the law
governing strikes.
On August 13, the Inspector General of Labour (IGT) visited RNA to see
how negotiations were progressing. According to the union, the IGT reported
only that the company was co-operating and the case would have to be dealt with
after the elections.
The workers agreed, on August 20, to declare a strike with effect from
7am. Their statement noted that “all areas will be affected, with a picket to
safeguard the news bulletins at 7am, 1pm and 8pm, Agenda Pública [the
current affairs show], and the election campaign broadcast slots granted to
political parties.”
“As long as the strike continues, radio broadcasts will be taken up with
soft music,” the statement concluded.
Nevertheless, various efforts to prevent the strike have become
apparent, including disinformation, intimidation, blackmail, deception, and
other tactics that the union has noted and reported to Maka Angola.
“The journalists are the weakest link among the workers. They are also
suffering injustice and stand in solidarity with their colleagues, but hide
away so as not to damage their professional ambitions,” said one journalist who
preferred to remain anonymous. “I have already shown my face and I am suffering
the consequences in the workplace,” the journalist explained.
As well as being Angola’s largest media outlet, RNA is the main means of
propaganda for President José Eduardo dos Santos’s government.
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