APS defends labour-hire concept

NEARLY a month after hired labourers protested in front of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Windhoek, the labour-hire company African Personnel Services (APS) has broken its silence on the growing public antagonism against labour hire.

In an interview with The Namibian over the weekend, APS branch manager for Windhoek Peet Botha responded to the negative perceptions of his field of business among labour unions, workers and the broader public. “Imagine a guy who sits in front of a company’s gates in search of work and the possibility of him not always getting it.Then look at the benefit of him registering with APS and immediately having the option of 52 different companies where I can send him,” Botha says.”Plus with me he gets registered with Social Security, provision is made for his leave and sick leave, he gets transport to and from work.We’re basically taking care of the administrative part of their work, we organise it.” This last service, he says, serves an added bonus in that companies who may be inexperienced in labour matters can go about their business without fear of being bullied by labour unions.One organisation that has not been impressed by this concept is the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW).At a press conference earlier this month, NUNW Secretary General Evilastus Kaaronda made clear the federation’s stance on companies such as APS, calling on Government to declare labour hire illegal in Namibia.Cases that have raised the ire of the unions include the recent retrenchment of workers from local company Commercial Investment Corporation (CIC) and an arrangement by management to have these workers taken up by labour-hire company Labour Supply Chain (LSC).The agreement resulted in a reduction in workers’ salaries, the union said, without any significant benefits being added.Meanwhile, workers who protested in front of the Coca-Cola bottling plant earlier this month due to alleged non-payment of salaries by APS have been suspended pending internal investigation.The workers claimed that they did not have basic wage agreements, and argued that their commission rate had not been explained to them.APS has denied both these claims.”A company like Coca-Cola may need more people on a certain day than on another when it’s not as hectic.So instead of them picking up a stranger from the street [to do this casual, temporary work], I have a database full of guys for him.They’ve got an employment record,” he says.APS has about 780 workers in Windhoek alone, Botha says, of which about 20 per cent report for duty at the same company every day.”I think the concept (of labour hire) is just very new,” Botha says.”I mean you often hear the union say labour-hire companies need to be shut down, but they’ll never give a reason.There is none,” he states.The NUNW disagrees that the concept is as new as Botha says, and, NUNW Deputy Secretary General Erago-Thaddeus Erago came up with a host of reasons for opposing it.”When labour is hired [instead of appointed], it weakens the unions.The employer’s responsibility towards its employees is diminished.Instead of having to speak to the unions, the company only speaks to the labour-hire company,” Elago said.This means that workers are left without any kind of bargaining power and are essentially reduced to casual workers with no substantial benefits, as happened with the former CIC employees.Despite the unions’ opposition, APS shows no signs of slowing down, turning 11 years old in October and claiming more than 12 000 employees across the SADC region, where it has spread from here.”Imagine a guy who sits in front of a company’s gates in search of work and the possibility of him not always getting it.Then look at the benefit of him registering with APS and immediately having the option of 52 different companies where I can send him,” Botha says.”Plus with me he gets registered with Social Security, provision is made for his leave and sick leave, he gets transport to and from work.We’re basically taking care of the administrative part of their work, we organise it.” This last service, he says, serves an added bonus in that companies who may be inexperienced in labour matters can go about their business without fear of being bullied by labour unions.One organisation that has not been impressed by this concept is the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW). At a press conference earlier this month, NUNW Secretary General Evilastus Kaaronda made clear the federation’s stance on companies such as APS, calling on Government to declare labour hire illegal in Namibia.Cases that have raised the ire of the unions include the recent retrenchment of workers from local company Commercial Investment Corporation (CIC) and an arrangement by management to have these workers taken up by labour-hire company Labour Supply Chain (LSC).The agreement resulted in a reduction in workers’ salaries, the union said, without any significant benefits being added.Meanwhile, workers who protested in front of the Coca-Cola bottling plant earlier this month due to alleged non-payment of salaries by APS have been suspended pending internal investigation.The workers claimed that they did not have basic wage agreements, and argued that their commission rate had not been explained to them.APS has denied both these claims.”A company like Coca-Cola may need more people on a certain day than on another when it’s not as hectic.So instead of them picking up a stranger from the street [to do this casual, temporary work], I have a database full of guys for him.They’ve got an employment record,” he says.APS has about 780 workers in Windhoek alone, Botha says, of which about 20 per cent report for duty at the same company every day.”I think the concept (of labour hire) is just very new,” Botha says.”I mean you often hear the union say labour-hire companies need to be shut down, but they’ll never give a reason.There is none,” he states.The NUNW disagrees that the concept is as new as Botha says, and, NUNW Deputy Secretary General Erago-Thaddeus Erago came up with a host of reasons for opposing it.”When labour is hired [instead of appointed], it weakens the unions.The employer’s responsibility towards its employees is diminished.Instead of having to speak to the unions, the company only speaks to the labour-hire company,” Elago said.This means that workers are left without any kind of bargaining power and are essentially reduced to casual workers with no substantial benefits, as happened with the former CIC employees.Despite the unions’ opposition, APS shows no signs of slowing down, turning 11 years old in October and claiming more than 12 000 employees across the SADC region, where it has spread from here.