Freda Rebecca Approves US$ Salaries
BINDURA Nickel Corportaion’s (BNC), Freda Rebecca Gold Mine has approved the payment of salaries for its employees in United States dollars , becoming one of the few employers agreeing to settle salaries in a functional currency.
In a statement signed by the company’s manager , Eliakem Hove and seen by NewZimbabwe.com Business, the employees were assured that from this month, salaries shall be paid in US$.
“Kindly be advised that negotiations for US$ salary approval have been concluded and we have the requisite from January 2020 to December 2020.
“Henceforth payroll is being readjusted to US$ and let us expect our salaries early next week. Management wishes to advise that this offer is a privilege and any form of abuse will lead to its withdrawal,” the statement said.
However, efforts to get a comment from BNC chairman, Muchadeyi Masunda were fruitless.
Commenting on the development, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general, Japhet Moyo said the company’s decision was noble.
“There is nothing wrong or amiss with paying wages and salaries in US$, especially when you are in an inflationary environment and you are liquid enough. This currency is a very stable currency that is internationally used by businesses like Freda Mine,” he said.
Workers in the country are surviving under harsh economic conditions as they are receiving similar salaries they used to get during the multi-currency era despite the fact that the local currency continues to depreciate against the US$ on both the interbank and parallel market exchange rates.
According to a 2016 report titled; “Working Without Pay: Wage Theft in Zimbabwe” by the ZCTU’s think tank, the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (Ledriz), an estimated 80 000 workers have not received their wages and benefits on time.
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