The Nationalist Party is asking employees of its media company to forfeit their salaries for July and August to ease its cash-flow problems, Times of Malta has learnt.
At a staff meeting for PN employees on Monday, general secretary Chris Said updated them on the party’s efforts to achieve a financial turnaround; a target it expects to reach by the end of this month.
Sources close to the PN headquarters said Dr Said told Media.Link Communications employees they would be given “the choice” to forfeit their July and August salaries. They would then be able to claim the money owed at a later date, after having left the company, retired, or at any point when they need the money.
He also promised them that the paycheques for June were going to be issued later this month.
Other party employees, including Dr Said himself, are already forgoing their wages.
When contacted, Dr Said confirmed that several decisions were being taken to safeguard the future of Media.Link and bring it on a sound financial footing. However, he refused to comment further, citing commercial sensitivity.
“Media.Link is undergoing a major restructuring process to place the company on a sound financial footing. This has entailed several decisions, all of which were aimed at making operations leaner and more efficient in line with current best practice.
“The decisions implemented as part of this restructuring exercise are expected to start bearing fruit by the end of September, ensuring sustainable accounts and wage bills.
“Naturally, the restructuring process carries commercial sensitivity and it will not be possible to divulge any further details.” Dr Said said in reply to questions from Times of Malta.
News about the party’s financial woes emerged in April when this newspaper revealed that some 150 employees had been informed by the management they would not be receiving their wages on time.
They subsequently started to receive some of their wages in arrears in cash.
The situation persisted in the following months with the “most urgent” cases being given priority by the management, especially those who had loans and other bank commitments.
Since Dr Said took over as general secretary to get the party’s financial problems in order, the number of full- and part-time employees dropped from 290 to 85, sources said.
The printing of daily newspaper In-Nażżjon and weekly Il-Mument will stop on September 22, as this will all be outsourced.
The newspapers will be printed in full colour and the move will save the company an estimated €400,000 a year.
Most urgent cases given priority
Dr Said also informed employees that besides downsizing, the party was cutting down on other expenses, especially those related to programmes produced for its television station, Net TV.
More emphasis will be placed on in-house productions to keep costs low. Moreover, all contributors for the papers will start to write for free while the party’s Radio 101 has reached an agreement with its DJs to accept a 30 per cent wage cut.
Dr Said told employees that the boost in Net TV viewership, which has seen a 137 per cent increase since the election, as well as a rise in sales of the party’s weekly paper, were indicative that the situation involving the party’s commercial arm was “moving in the right direction”.
Speaking in Marsascala last night, Dr Said said the two main reasons for the party’s financial situation were the debts on its new headquarters and the losses incurred by Net TV.