Admarc junior staff call off strike
Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) junior staff resumed their duties on Wednesday morning after striking an agreement with management following hours of discussions on Tuesday.
The junior staff, who included messengers, security guards, casual workers and those from landscape and building sections, started the strike on Monday to force management to review their salaries, housing allowances, leave grants and other conditions of service.
They claimed to have been discussing their grievances with management since 2013, but nothing tangible came out of the talks.
When The Nation visited Admarc Head Office in Blantyre yesterday, which was the centre of attraction on Monday when the junior staff blocked the Limbe-Zomba Road, it established that life was back to normal.
An employee, who did not want to be named, said following the meeting which started from 9am to 7pm on Tuesday, management promised to take their grievances to the board and they agreed to resume work while waiting for the outcome.
“Let me be clear here that the issue is not completely over. If they will not act on our grievances as they promised, we will lay down our tools again,” he said.
According to the employee, among the proposals that were agreed upon during the meeting include an immediate 15 percent salary increment with arrears from July 2016 and thereafter a 50 percent increment from July 2017.
On housing allowance, they agreed that it will be increased from K2 000 to K15 000, leave grant will be raised from K5 000 to K50 000 while lunch allowance will be at K2 500 from K1000.
Admarc public relations officer Agnes Chikoko Ndovi confirmed the development, saying management and the junior staff agreed amicably on the issue.
She said: “Management and junior staff representatives held a meeting and they agreed amicably on some of the conditions that were demanded. Proposals have been made subject to approval by the board as you know Admarc is a government entity.” n
