Claims by fishermen’s union rejected

CLAIMS by the Namibia Seamen and Allied Workers’ Union (Nasawu) that the person appointed to resolve a labour dispute between Africa Personnel Services and former employees at Walvis Bay was biased are ‘misleading and incorrect’.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare yesterday charged that these allegations were ‘a calculated ploy aimed at influencing the outcome of the arbitration or designed to intimidate and harass the arbitrator to issue the award in favour of Nasawu’.
The controversy follows the dismissal of hundreds of workers from the fishing industry at the start of this year.
According to this ministry, meetings to defuse the labour dispute situation failed. The matter was further delayed when Johannes Kapembe of Africa Personnel Services fell ill recently.
In a petition delivered to the ministry on Wednesday, Nasawu demanded that Government make labour hire unconstitutional.
Furthermore, the union asked for Etale Fishing Company and Cadilu Fishing employees to be paid ‘the same as employees employed in the same industry or region’ and that Government introduce minimum wages in the fishing sector ‘to avoid exploitation’.
The two fishing outfits where the disgruntled employees were employed are situated at Walvis Bay.
According to Nasawu, the ministry has neglected the plight of workers.
Nasawu also said it disagreed with the two arbitrators the Labour Commissioner appointed in the Erongo Region.
In its response, the Labour Ministry said the appointed Erongo arbitrators were civil servants who were legally appointed to deal with labour disputes.
Regarding labour hire, the ministry said ‘the position of Government when it comes to the labour hire is unquestionably clear but as a country of law and order, our Supreme Court ruled otherwise and we have to accept the ruling as such’.
The Supreme Court ruled late last year that the 2007 Labour Act’s blanket ban on labour hire was unconstitutional.
Following that ruling, the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Immanuel Ngatjizeko, vowed that the labour hire system would not be allowed to continue to exist in its current form.
To date, no new legislation targeting the system has been introduced in Parliament.