After six days without salaries, today the workers of Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) went out to protest in front of the public broadcaster’s building.
The Union of Workers of Radio Television of Kosovo (SPERTK) has warned that if the salaries for RTK employees are not executed within a short period, then they will enter into general strikes and also protests that could escalate.
The chairman of SPERTK, Gëzim Bimbashi, stated that instead of protesting for improving working conditions or raising salaries, the workers are forced to protest for the salaries that are legally owed to them, blaming the acting Government, the Assembly, and RTK management.
The chairman of SPERTK has a question for the relevant institutions: “What are you intending to do with RTK?”
“Instead of protesting for improving working conditions or raising salaries, we are forced to come out for the salaries we have earned with sweat… Meanwhile, the deputies of the Assembly continue to receive their salaries regularly without any delay, but for the workers who keep the public broadcaster alive, no one has remembered. For this situation, responsibility lies with everyone, the Assembly, the Government, and RTK management… If a solution is not found within a short time, the union of RTK workers will examine legal possibilities to enter into a general strike, and if silence and neglect continue, our protests may also escalate,” said Bimbashi.
Also, a member of the leadership of this union, Fisnik Dërguti, sees general strikes as unavoidable. Dërguti said that in the latest European Commission report for Kosovo, RTK’s malfunctioning has been identified as a deficiency.
“In the latest progress report, it has been identified as a deficiency in RTK’s functioning, and particularly this budget saga, which continues even further. We knew very well when we were left without salaries in the first quarter, we knew that this day would also come. I address sharp criticism towards the acting Director General, who should have addressed such an issue much earlier and ensured stable and continuous funding of RTK,” said Dërguti.
Meanwhile, a board member from the Kosovo Journalists’ Association (AGK), Naile Dema, supporting her media colleagues, called on acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti to allocate the salaries for RTK employees, just as he did last time, and in this way stop the financial pressure.
“AGK is supporting and showing solidarity with our colleagues from RTK. AGK has only one request today, urgently and unquestionably from the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, to allocate the salaries for RTK employees, to do it just as he did last time, and in this way stop the financial pressure being imposed on media workers,” emphasized Dema.
During the protest, the workers of Radio Television of Kosovo were holding signs with various inscriptions such as: “RTK belongs to the people, not politics,” “Without RTK, citizens have no voice,” “We demand dignity, not mercy,” and “RTK does not remain silent, even in darkness.” A similar protest by RTK workers was also held in August.
