Popular private television channel Canal 3 Niger has terminated 36 employees who participated in a three-day strike to demand overdue wages.
The employees dismissed on Tuesday included journalists, cameramen, and technicians.
Media associations report that many journalists in Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, have not been paid for a year or more.
Media outlets in the nation are struggling with declining revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic and regional sanctions following last year’s coup.
Canal 3 Niger head Ismaël Abdoulaye told media on Thursday that the dismissals were due to “insubordination” and “breach of contract.”
Chamssiyatou Kimba, a spokeswoman for the sacked employees, stated at a press conference that they had been demanding two months’ back pay, with salary arrears stretching “over one-and-a-half years.”
“Instead of the two months’ salary we were demanding, they paid us for only one month and we went on strike,” Kimba said.
Abdoulaye responded that “the day they received a month’s salary in back pay… everyone disappeared without ensuring minimum service.”
“The strike was illegal; there are procedures to be followed to go on strike,” he added.
However, Kimba contested this, saying the strikers had informed management about their intention to take industrial action.
