News / National
Zimpapers in massive salary cuts
05 Aug 2014 at 16:10hrs | Views
State owned Zimpapers has announced a 20 percent salary cut for all employees after posting $2 million loss for the first half of the year.
With immediate effect the company has proposed a four day working week ostensibly to avoid retrenching workers.
Workers at Herald told Bulawayo24 News that on top of the cuts, the company is removing perks like car loans, DStv subscriptions, gym subscriptions, holiday allowances and groceries for senior management.
All workers will with immediate effect stop benefiting from refunds of money used on tuition to get higher qualifications.
The stern measures also mean there will be no annual bonus for 2014.
The employees have vowed to resist the cuts saying they would be poorer than civil servants.
"All along, we have been told that the Bulawayo branch is finally starting to make profit. In Harare, employees have been benefiting from profit sharing because we have been making good profits. Where has the loss suddenly come from? We will not accept it, we would rather resort to litigation because the company is taking workers for granted," said an angry employee.
In Bulawayo, the workers said they had been earning far less than their colleagues in the same grade in Harare. They said some of them had been surviving on bank loans which they hoped to repay after being promised a raise earlier this year.
"The editors told us about the development after they attended a meeting to discuss the cuts and we will not accept it. Some will have to drop out of school because they will not be able to pay fees. Other will be taking home less than $100 every month after banks have taken their money. Management seems insensitive to our plight," said a worker.
The workers said the company had promised that the tight rein on finances would last until the end of the year before normalcy returns.
They however said they no longer trusted their employer after the shock announcement.
"How can we believe what they tell us when they cut our salaries after telling us we were on the road to recovery? They should just shut down the loss making Star FM and Natprint," said another worker.
With immediate effect the company has proposed a four day working week ostensibly to avoid retrenching workers.
Workers at Herald told Bulawayo24 News that on top of the cuts, the company is removing perks like car loans, DStv subscriptions, gym subscriptions, holiday allowances and groceries for senior management.
All workers will with immediate effect stop benefiting from refunds of money used on tuition to get higher qualifications.
The stern measures also mean there will be no annual bonus for 2014.
The employees have vowed to resist the cuts saying they would be poorer than civil servants.
In Bulawayo, the workers said they had been earning far less than their colleagues in the same grade in Harare. They said some of them had been surviving on bank loans which they hoped to repay after being promised a raise earlier this year.
"The editors told us about the development after they attended a meeting to discuss the cuts and we will not accept it. Some will have to drop out of school because they will not be able to pay fees. Other will be taking home less than $100 every month after banks have taken their money. Management seems insensitive to our plight," said a worker.
The workers said the company had promised that the tight rein on finances would last until the end of the year before normalcy returns.
They however said they no longer trusted their employer after the shock announcement.
"How can we believe what they tell us when they cut our salaries after telling us we were on the road to recovery? They should just shut down the loss making Star FM and Natprint," said another worker.
Source - Byo24News
