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MEC employees demand 45% pay increase

Mwafulirwa: There are negotiations
Mwafulirwa: There are negotiations

Employees of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) have threatened to go on strike should government not implement a 45 percent salary adjustment they are demanding.

The employees took the stand after rejecting a 10 percent rise government offered them.

MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa said in 2012 the employees were promised a 30 percent increment, but only 15 percent was effected.

This year, MEC management proposed a salary rise of 30 percent but government has only approved 10 percent.

But the employees want to receive the whole 30 percent for this year and 15 percent carried over from 2012.

“Negotiations are progressing positively and a solution will be found soon that will be satisfactory to all parties involved. There is no intention on the part of the staff to disrupt the electoral process, ” said Mwafulirwa.

MEC employees are working under the Commercial Industrial and Allied Workers Union (CIAWU) to push for the increment.

A meeting between MEC and the union has been scheduled for today.

An employee at the commission, who did not want to be identified, said the outcome of the meeting is a foregone conclusion, claiming that the staff might not get what they are demanding because recent negotiations between MEC and government failed to bear fruit.

“The meetings between CIAWU and management are just a formality. We want to be seen to be following protocol before we lay down our tools,” said the employee.

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