SME Times News Bureau | 16 Jul, 2019
The agonising wait for nearly
200 HTN Tiranga TV employees to get their pending dues continued on
Friday as there was no clarity from the management of the channel on the
amount for the severance package.
According to sources, the
management in the meeting with department heads of the TV channel on
Monday offered to pay 15-day extra pay which was not acceptable to the
employees.
The employees spent Thursday night in office, protesting against the channel and its owner Kapil Sibal and his wife.
"It's
already been 24 hours! We @NewsHtn employees spent the entire night in
office! @KapilSibal We were told that management would get back to us
by12 PM today with a decision on our Salaries...but still no response!
How long are we supposed to stay here? Answer us!" tweeted an employee
who is a correspondent at Tiranga TV.
Anathor staffer tweeted:
"After not addressing the staffers in regards to their severance pay,
@KapilSibal has sent bouncers to intimidate the employees who are
quietly sitting in the office on a peaceful protest! Creating fear,
intimidating journalists..what next?"
The employees also shared a picture of bouncers sitting in the office lobby on Twitter.
The issue came to light when journalist Barkha Dutt opened a scathing attack against Sibal and his wife on Twitter on Thursday.
In
a tweetstorm, Dutt who is one of the senior channel executives accused
Sibal and his wife of not paying 200 employees at their venture,
including threatening her with defamation for supporting the staff.
"Bouncers
at @NewsHtn office sent in by @KapilSibal and wife tweet protesting
colleagues who are on an all night sit in dharna demanding a six month
pay out. Need I say more," Dutt further tweeted.
Employees told IANS on the condition of anonymity that 40-50 workers have already been sacked.
"We
the employees of @NewsHtn won't leave Office till @KapilSibal you agree
to our demands. We are still waiting for a response. No word yet...what
are you waiting for?" tweeted a staffer.