There is a strike in progress at IRIE FM, one of the island’s leading radio stations, which caused it to broadcast ‘dead air’ for several hours. The industrial dispute was reportedly triggered by the decision by management to lay off some IRIE FM staff members.
“The management decided to lay off some staff when the matter was being adjudicated by a union representative. The management went ahead and did the layoffs so everyone walked off the job, because IRIE FM has no need to lay off staff at this time because the station makes a lot of money and they could make cuts in other areas without cutting staff,” a highly reliable source told the News reporters.
Efforts to get a comment from the union representative from the National Workers Union proved futile.
IRIE FM, built on reggae music, remains one of the most popular radio stations locally with programmes such as The Buzz, and the Cutting Edge hosted by philosopher-poet Mutabaruka.
