RTS unions file notice of three-day strike
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Senego
The Senegalese Radio and Television Broadcasting unions have filed notice of a three-day strike amid a dispute over the company agreement and pay. El Hadji Thierno Dramé estimates the net cost of salary increases at less than 150 million CFA francs a month, according to Senegaldirect.
The unions of the Senegalese Radio and Television Broadcasting (RTS), Senegal’s public broadcaster, have filed notice of a three-day strike. The action could disrupt the broadcaster’s activities, including its coverage of official events, according to senegaldirect.
El Hadji Thierno Dramé, an RTS staff representative, says employees do not want to go as far as striking but that their patience has run out. The unions are demanding implementation of the company agreement signed on 29 March 2024 and the resumption of discussions on pay and working conditions.
The dispute concerns, in particular, the suspension of the agreement by director-general Pape Alé Niang, a decision that triggered legal proceedings against five union officials. Dramé estimates the net cost of the salary increases provided for in the text at less than 150 million CFA francs a month. It was approved by the board of directors in June 2022 after negotiations that began in 2018. He also cited a meal allowance that remains at 2,000 CFA francs for a working day that can extend into the evening.
The strike notice follows several statements on the RTS crisis, including the prime minister’s challenge to the social agreement on 17 October and Issa Thioro Gueye’s call for presidential intervention on 15 October. The Forum of the Justiciable, for its part, raised the alarm on 22 October over the general strike in Senegal.
