The now former staff of Sanyu FM have hijacked the station’s Twitter account to protest against their former employer and business Mogul Sudhir Rupaleria alleging unfair dismissal.
The extraordinary protest took many of the station’s twitter followers by surprise as many initially thought it was a prank.
But the seriousness of the matter, printed in bold words, lent credibility to the fact that this was a protest.
The conspicuous silence of presenters on would-be shows, accompanied by subsequent tweets by James Onen, aka Fatboy, that he was leaving Uganda’s oldest private radio station, after 21 years of service, further confirmed the unsettling events at the radio station.
In the protest post, the workers say they had been slapped with a 25% pay cut without prior consultation and negotiation which prompted them to stage a sit down strike.
They said they had been treated unfairly and were looking for a brave lawyer to take on Sudhir in courts of law.
Reports attributed to Sudhir quote the property mogul as saying that the workers dismissed themselves after they staged a strike, contrary to their employment contracts.
The forthcoming David Versus Golliath court battle between the poor former staff of the radio station, in comparison with Sudhir’s wealth, promises to be an gripping affair.
But the dispute is unlikely to be an isolated incident as many companies have been forced to cut salaries of workers or laid them off altogether in a bid to stay afloat.
In the meantime, comedian Patrick Idringi, aka Salvado has reportedly been hired by the station to fill the void left by Onen and crew.
But changing the over 2 decade tradition with a uniquely young listenership and and fan base that has been built by Fatboy and crew will prove to be a daunting task for both Sudhir and new man on the block Salvado.
