Government bows down to Admarc staff demands
The government has bowed down to the demands of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) junior staff, who have been pressing their employer to hike their salaries.
Admarc junior staff started a sit-in on Monday as one way of forcing the government to bow down to their demand for a 15 percent salary increment.
However, the government has promised to increase the pay by an average of 10.4 percent.
During a four-hour meeting at Admarc headquarters in Blantyre yesterday, the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Magret Mauwa, told the disgruntled employees that management had been discussing the matter with the government, which has promised to increase their pay effective this month.
The employees, who also staged a sit-in in March this year, were, among other things, asking for an increment of leave grants, settlement of salary increment arrears for the 2016/ 2017 financial year and housing allowances.
The staff refused to negotiate on Monday as they wanted Mauwa, who was in Lilongwe then, to address them.
Meanwhile, a representative of the employees, John Hassan, has asked staff of Admarc countrywide to call off the strike after the negotiations, saying they have accepted government’s offer.
“The management has convinced us that government has agreed to increase our salary arrears. They have also told us that Human Resource officials from Capital hill will come for salary alignment because, as things stand at Admarc, they do not consider how long one has been working. Those who are experienced and those who are not are treated the same way,” Hassan said.
The workers were also demanding the removal of the acting CEO, Accountant Agness Mtawali and Administration Manager Grace Khomba but, after the negotiations, they have withdrawn the demand.
Admarc officials refused to comment on the matter, saying it was an in-house issue.
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