 |
| Journalists at state run media wearing red badges as a sign of protest early last year. Their strike ended when they were promised adequate salaries and allowances. One year later the promises remain unfulfilled so they are organizing strikes again. YT photo archive |
SANA’A, FEB. 5 — After more than a week of red signs on their shoulders, indicating partial strike, journalists working in public media institutions have been calmed by promises of Noa’man Al-Suhaibi, Minister of Finance, to give them their bonuses from the next half of 2010.
The council of Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) and heads of the syndicates’ committees in government media institutions, held a discussion meeting, two weeks ago, with Al-Suhaibi regarding implementation of the first part of the cabinet’s decision No. 76 for 2009 concerning the Work Nature Allowances, following which, in a press release the YJS called on journalists to take out the red signs and suspend the partial strike, starting from January 25, according to Saba. The Journalists had already had carried out the strike for a day, .
The syndicate confirmed that it will nevertheless insist on implementing the second part of the decision, which includes Job Description - a project presented by YJS to cabinet last year on regulating salaries of journalists, but refused by government. The YJS called on all state media to finish any requirements needed to implement the project.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate held elections, last November, to choose committees from public media institutions to be in contact with the syndicate on issues of journalists in these institutions.
Head of the YJS’s Committee in Yemen News Agency-Saba, Mansour Al-Jaradi said the idea of Journalist Cadre, similar to the Job Description project, started in early 1990s. The government did not approve the project and replaced it with Work Nature Allowances.
The project of Job Description gives the journalists better allowances than the project of the Work Nature Allowances, which is why the project was refused by the government.
Despite journalists acceptance of the Work Nature Allowances project, which shrinks their rights, the government tried to play with its decision and did not include bonuses in 2010 public budget and ‘’this was a great setback to all,’’ said Al-Jaradi.
Disappointed by the governments’ not considering their demands, journalists went from red signs to a partial strike for two hours. As a result, Nasr Mustaha, the Chairman of the Board of Yemen News Agency met the Minister of Finance and an agreement was reached on including the bonuses.
“Journalists will not abandon their complete rights of the Work Nature Allowances and of the Job Description, which will improve the living standards of the journalists, which are bad despite the fact that these journalists are working for the state media,” said al-Jaradi.
In 2006, the government approved the Work Nature Allowances to its employees in the three sectors of, education, health and media. The teachers got their allowances in 2008 after long strikes leading to schools in the Capital Sana’a and the rest country governorates being closed for a period. However, doctors are still threatening of go in strike if the government does not respond to their demands of increasing salaries. They got a portion of their allowances last year after repeated strikes carried out in public hospitals, across the country.
Journalists have still not received any part of their allowances. ‘Even the agreement we reached with Minister of Finance is still uncertain because it is conditioned with money supply,’ said Al-Jaradi