Nico Life employees stage sit-in
Nico Life Insurance Company Limited employees in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, staged a sit-in, demanding a 39 percent salary increment.
According to one of the disgruntled workers, the employees requested a 49 percent increment in June this year soon after the devaluation of the kwacha, but management only gave them a 10 percent increment in September.
The employees claimed that the company is one of the most profit-making subsidiaries in Nico Holdings Limited; hence, they expect to earn good salaries.
“The devaluation has hit us hard just like most people in the country and we proposed a 39 percent salary increment after we got the 10 percent. There have been talks between management and Nico Holdings on this issue, but we have not received any feedback on what was discussed during these meetings.
“Two weeks ago, we gave management a two-week ultimatum on the salary increment, but there has been no response from them. That is why we decided to boycott work. We will continue the sit-in until we receive positive response from management,†said one of the workers.
Nico Life Insurance chief executive officer Osman Karim, however, denied that Nico Life employees were staging a sit-in.
“There is no sit-in at Nico Life. The issue of salary increment is currently being discussed by management and if the employees have not been told of this, it is the problem of their supervisors,†said Karim.
