The journalists working for The City Review and Al-Hagiga newspapers (subsidiaries of RAK Media Group) in Juba staged an indefinite strike over low salaries and wages and called on the management to urgently resolve the issue to salvage the two leading dailies in the country.
In a letter shared with The Golden Times on 29 July 2024, the journalists said they have been going low in their work to compel the management to heed their complaints but there seems no climb of the light of hope.
They demand the RAK Media Group to up their salaries and wages amid the rising cost of living in the country.
“We, the journalists working for The City Review and Al-Hagiga (Arabic) Newspapers, author this letter to express our deepest concerns and clear the air on the recent events that led to changes in editorial content for these esteemed newspapers,” the letter partly read.
“As you may have witnessed in recent days, the last few editions of your favorite newspapers were filled with stories sourced from various wires (online), which is against the editorial policies and has not been the case before.”
“To avoid any doubt, we would like to make it clear that we the national staff (journalists) have been staging an industrial go-slow since July 24, 2024, to push the management of RAK MEDIA to listen to our grievances concerning the low payment structure.”
Rak Media Group Chief Operating Officer R. M. Rajadurai said, he was not aware of the strike over low wages and disparity in the salary scale and he vowed to probe the issue and settle the alleged injustices raised by the national journalists.
Last year 2023, a three-year investigation by The Sentry exposed corrupt dealings between RAK Media Group, Trinity Energy, and five other enterprises in South Sudan’s oil industry. RAK Media Group refuted the accusations.
Besides the two newspapers, RAK Media Group owns two radio stations operating in South Sudan’s national capital, Juba.
The journalists said they had previously notified management in writing about the need to increase their salaries and wages; instead, they were intimidated.
“Due to the above threats, we declared not to send stories until the management addressed our grievances,” they added.
“Our demand for a salary increment is something we see as necessary and reasonable since the national staff are paid in South Sudanese Pounds (SSP), and it has become an unreasonable amount due to currency depreciation.”
The national journalists also disclosed the disparity in the salary scale, stressing that the expatriate in the editorial department earns more than the national journalists.
“Just to point out a few observations, for example, an expatriate in the editorial department earns not less than USD 2500 and above including free accommodation, transport, air tickets, airtime, and food, among others. Meanwhile, the highest-paid national staff receives less than 100 USD, paid in pounds,” the journalists further narrated.
“Considering the prevailing economic situation, we requested the management to review our salaries, a request that has been met with intimidation and downright arrogance.
While we continue to acknowledge the role expatriates play, we therefore appeal to the management to also appreciate these facts and address our complaints.”
The journalists vowed to continue engaging the management of RAK MEDIA to ensure that they develop a policy that values the efforts of national staff.
“In light of the above, we will maintain our position on this matter until our concerns are addressed,” they concluded.
The Management of The City Review however confirmed the strike and urged the journalists to remain patient as it leveraged ways to handle their grievances without affecting the operations of the twin newspapers.
As for the alleged gap between the salaries of national reporters and those paid to expatriates, the management said the claim of $2500 was exaggerated and baseless.
“While the management understands the issues raised by the journalists, overnight increments of salaries up to 500% under the prevailing economic situation in the country is quite challenging and unsustainable. Meanwhile, efforts have been made by Management over time to increase the reporter’s wages to 30% to address the inflation issue, but inflation keeps surging- which has made this unsustainable. The current economic challenges facing the country, which we believe is temporary. has affected most sectors and businesses, not just this establishment alone. However. we have maintained the highest standards and ethics in the publishing business. Our commitment is to be one of the most trusted, professional, and ethical entities in the industry,” the management said in a statement.
