By Staff Writer
ALPHA Media Holdings (AMH) reporters have cited incapacitation to turn up of work due to inflation eroded salaries amid demands for exclusive US$ salaries.
A letter anonymously written to the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) exposes the dire levels of hardships bedevilling the workers at one of the country’s reputable private media organisations.
The workers said they have always shown a strong urge to execute their duties as portrayed by their continued willingness to work and produce stories and content for the three publications- NewsDay, Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard and digital platform.
“In the past, even during the peak of the dreaded Covid19 pandemic, we have gone the extra-mile of going out of our way to make sure we produce content.
“In that vein, we would like to highlight that our salaries have been heavily eroded by the ever rising inflation, yet we are expected to continue producing content for the publications and digital platforms,” the letter said.
They alleged that salaries have been heavily eroded leaving them in an extremely difficult situation to feed themselves and pay for rentals even coming to work on a daily basis.
“We are requesting that salaries be pegged in United States dollars or the equivalent on our contracts indexed to the official bank rate,” the letter said.
It was also revealed that the workers are short staffed and being forced to write across all the platforms in a development which undermines the quality of work amid calls for recruitment to beef up the staff compliment.
“All the above mentioned challenges affect the quality of work, yet we strive every day to reach international standards and be the pinnacle of journalism in the country,” the letter added.
