Former Standard Group workers hold protests over delayed back payments
Former Standard Media employees protesting over delayed back payments. Photo/Videograb
Former Standard Group workers on Tuesday protested to demand their back payments, which have not been remitted to them for almost two(2) years since they left the company.
The former employees who assembled at the entrance to Standard Group headquarters along Mombasa Road.
They demanded for remittance of statutory deductions made from their salaries.
They also want their Sacco savings returned to them. They claimed that their former employer has refused to return the Sacco funds.
A few days ago, the company, through its Chief Executive Officer Marion Mwangi pledged to directly engage the more than 400 affected workers to resolve the payment delays.
"They have not remitted money for statutory deductions such as NHIF for two years, KRA for two years, NSSF for two years, and pension from 2019. What do they expect us to do? They deducted it from our salaries and they are not remitting the money," lamented one of the former employees.
Another former employee, Nicholas Lusuli, said: "We need our Sacco savings immediately, we saved our hard-earned money and we need that money today. We say Standard Group must pay. Standard Group must pay. Standard Group has no choice".
Dejected former Standard Group employees also gathered outside the company's premises along Mombasa Road on Thursday last week to try to force their ex-employer's hand.
They accused the media house of failing to honour its promise to retrench them and pay them their severance package.
The ex-employees also accused the Standard Group of using underhand tactics to pit them against each other, claiming that the managing director, Marion Mwangi, was stonewalling their efforts to reach her office and claim their dues.
In a statement released that evening, Ms Mwangi said the company held a meeting with the affected former staff and agreed to "outline our commitment to fulfilling our obligations regarding outstanding dues... Both parties have agreed to establish a working group comprising representatives from both sides to engage directly with the Group Chief Executive Officer in order to address the payment delays."
