Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) workers have begun a two-hour general strike today due to non-payment of salaries.
RTK union representatives are calling on the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, to take immediate legal action and find a solution to secure RTK's budget. Otherwise, they said they will tighten measures, including boycotting the electoral campaign for the December 28 snap elections and not covering political activities.
The representative of the RTK Workers' Union, Gëzim Bimbashi, said that the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, should provide RTK with a budget, as there is a legal solution for such a thing.
"Starting today, we are on a two-hour strike. We entered the newsroom early, at our workplace where we work every day, to express our dissatisfaction. We are entering the second month without any signal from anyone, so ignoring our demands has brought us to this point. They have ignored our demands as a union and we have previously appealed to the Assembly, but the Assembly was dissolved. Now we are appealing to the government, to Prime Minister Kurti. We are appealing to Prime Minister Kurti to take immediate legal action and find a solution, as there is a legal solution. During this time, I have met with lawyers and legal experts and have been presented with some of the forms that the government can take very quickly and do not contradict the law. Therefore, this remains in the will of the government and Prime Minister Kurti to find a solution," he said.
Otherwise, Bimbashi said they will tighten measures, even boycotting all political activities and the electoral campaign.
"At the end of this week we will inform you about the other measures. Initially, we went on a two-hour strike and by the end of the week we will come up with positions to continue further. The strike will not stop and will continue every day. If a solution is not found, we will demand that the coverage of the electoral campaign be suspended, not out of pleasure or desire," added Bimbashi.
On the other hand, the president of the Association of Kosovo Journalists, Xhemajl Rexha, said that the RTK situation is unprecedented and unacceptable for the AGK. Expressing support for the RTK strike, he said that securing the budget for RTK is in the hands of the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and the acting Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati.
He called for an end to political and financial pressure on RTK.
"This is an unprecedented and unacceptable situation for the public broadcaster. We support today's strike, we also support other measures in the future that the union can take, as mentioned, the boycott of the election campaign which would be the minimum step of political events. As AGK, as we have said in the past, there is only one address of responsibility which is the Government of Kosovo. Everything is in the hands of Prime Minister Kurti and the Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati. They now have an advantage to take steps since they are not legally deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo, they are only the acting prime minister and the acting minister. One more argument to make a decision and allocate the budget for three months", he stressed.
The unions warn that the strike will continue until the budget for RTK is allocated and, in addition to the strike, they will also organize a protest in front of the Government and the Parliament in the coming days. In the absence of salaries and an institutional solution, according to them, the functioning of the programs and the public mission of the only broadcaster in the country are at risk. /Telegrafi/
RTK workers without salaries for 24 days, start general strike telegrafi.com
