World Vision Malawi strike enters day three

A strike which has paralysed the work of Christian international non-governmental organisation World Vision Malawi (WVM) entered a third day with management and the striking staff failing to reach a mutual agreement.

The strike started on Tuesday when hundreds of WVM staff from across the country gathered at the head office in Lilongwe to present a petition in which they are demanding an 80 percent salary increment across the board and rolling out of fixed-term contracts.

Efforts to send the employees back to work while the Staff Consultative Committee (SCC) and senior management team continued to negotiate were met with hostility.

A member of the SCC, who opted for anonymity, said discussions with the management ended at 8pm with the agreement that there was a lot of misunderstandings which arose due to poor communication from management.

The SCC was informed that the salary increment demanded could not be effected across the board, but through performance appraisals just like in other World Vision offices around the world.

The SCC and senior management team agreed on 60 percent increment based on performance appraisals which meant about 78 percent of staff members would receive an increment between 50 and 60 percent.

However, this news was not received kindly by the staff who accused the SCC of being sell-outs.

Negotiations were in the third day yesterday, but an agreement was expected by the end of the day.