Bottle sorters grumble about pay

CASUAL workers contracted out by the labour-hire company Africa Personnel Services (APS) to Namibia Beverages are complaining about their wages and work hours.

They work as packers and sorters at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Windhoek. Some of the workers, who did not want their names published, told The Namibian yesterday that they earned salaries of between N$300 and N$400 per month, while they were expected to work from morning until evening.”We are being told that if we do not want to work, we can [leave] and they will get other workers.We work like prisoners,” one of the workers claimed.He said sometimes they started work at 07h00 in the morning and continued until midnight, and the company did not transport them home after work.They claimed that Namibia Beverages had refused to increase their salaries, saying that APS was responsible for looking after them.They also accused APS Manager Piet Botha of refusing to listen to their problems.”He only speaks to Coca-Cola,” they said.Botha has denied the allegations levelled against the company.He told The Namibian yesterday that the payment of workers differs from division to division and workers were not paid per hour but based on their production.He said bottle sorters were paid less than those who work on the production line.The reason for this was that bottle sorting was a very basic, unskilled job.Botha said some of the workers were also not working every day.”Some of them only work for 10 to 12 days a month,” he said.Asked about the claim that some of the workers were earning as little as N$300 a month, Botha said this was not true, and some of them earned up to N$1000 a month.He declined to say how much Namibia Beverages was paying APS, saying that it was confidential information.Botha said he had explained to the workers up to 20 times how their payment worked and it was not true that he was unwilling to talk to them.Some of the workers, who did not want their names published, told The Namibian yesterday that they earned salaries of between N$300 and N$400 per month, while they were expected to work from morning until evening.”We are being told that if we do not want to work, we can [leave] and they will get other workers.We work like prisoners,” one of the workers claimed.He said sometimes they started work at 07h00 in the morning and continued until midnight, and the company did not transport them home after work.They claimed that Namibia Beverages had refused to increase their salaries, saying that APS was responsible for looking after them.They also accused APS Manager Piet Botha of refusing to listen to their problems.”He only speaks to Coca-Cola,” they said.Botha has denied the allegations levelled against the company.He told The Namibian yesterday that the payment of workers differs from division to division and workers were not paid per hour but based on their production.He said bottle sorters were paid less than those who work on the production line.The reason for this was that bottle sorting was a very basic, unskilled job.Botha said some of the workers were also not working every day.”Some of them only work for 10 to 12 days a month,” he said. Asked about the claim that some of the workers were earning as little as N$300 a month, Botha said this was not true, and some of them earned up to N$1000 a month.He declined to say how much Namibia Beverages was paying APS, saying that it was confidential information.Botha said he had explained to the workers up to 20 times how their payment worked and it was not true that he was unwilling to talk to them.