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Lecturers at the Zambia Air Service Training Institute (ZASTI) have threatened to strike if the government fails to settle their K17 million arrears in gratuity and other incentives.
The lecturers had accused the government of neglecting their payments since 2013, providing no incentives, failing to increase salaries for the past five years and operating without a Board of Directors at the Institute.
Peter Lusanga, a representative of the lecturers, told Zambia Monitor on Wednesday that management had ignored their grievances for years, leaving the lecturers with no choice but to protest and down tools.
Lusanga accused management of failing to remit the lecturers’ contributions to the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), and the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA).
“When it comes to the gratuity, we are owed a small amount of K17 million only, without interest. Considering the time that has passed and the dollar’s fluctuations, this should be taken into consideration,” Lusanga stated.
He added that, like NAPSA, lecturers are unable to make the partial withdrawals available to their colleagues in other institutions due to unremitted contributions.
Lusanga also alleged that management had not been remitting their contributions to NHIMA, preventing lecturers from accessing NHIMA services.
“Failure by management and our Ministry to address our grievances will result in us going on a go-slow or downing our tools to force them to handle our case,” Lusanga threatened.
William Ngoma, the ZASTI Principal, declined to comment when approached by a Zambia Monitor reporter on Wednesday morning.
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