AMMAN -- The Jordan Press Foundation's (JPF) new board of directors held its first meeting on Tuesday, electing Mansour Nabulsi as deputy chairman.
The board members agreed to implement the 2011 labour agreement signed with the JPF employees, under which the staff will be given a fourth bonus salary.
The board, chaired by former media affairs minister Samih Maaytah, also approved hazard pay for printing press employees and decided to task the foundation's editorial board with taking the appropriate decision regarding the columnists of Al Rai and The Jordan Times dailies to save around JD500,000 annually.
The editorial board will also be responsible for preparing plans to ensure Al Rai's independence and enhance the quality of its news coverage.
The JPF board members also agreed to look into the new printing press project, which cost the foundation around $50 million.
The Social Security Corporation (SSC), which owns 55 per cent of JPF shares through its investment unit, appointed a new board of directors for the media institution on Monday.
The new board elected Maaytah as JPF chairman. A veteran journalist and columnist, he was Al Rai's editor-in-chief in 2011.
The new board of directors includes -- in addition to Maaytah -- former planning minister Suhair Al-Ali, Ibrahim Dweiri, Mohammad Tarawneh and Abdul Hafiz Ajlouni as representatives of the SSC.
JPF employees had staged daily protests since early October, which culminated in a one-day strike, demanding that the former board honour the 2011 labour agreement.
The staff members also demanded the dismissal of the board of directors, which was headed by former media affairs minister Ali Al Ayed, who was representing the Arab Bank on the board.
© Jordan Times 2013
