Cymot reinstates workers

TWO of the four people who were fired at Cymot Namibia after allegedly drinking more than their allocation of beer at the company’s Christmas party last year, got their jobs back last week.

According to a letter to the workers, the company says it had reconsidered its position, and was willing to offer them a settlement proposal on condition that they withdraw negative reports from the media and admit their guilt.

The letter offers reinstatement to two people, and a payout settlement of two months’ basic salary to the third person. The fourth one did not want to take on the company.

The settlement is subject to “the admission of the applicants that they were guilty of misconduct (gross dishonesty) in that it was their intention and aim to remove alcohol from the respondent’s premises. [Also], commitment to withdraw any negative reporting of Cymot from any and all media,” the letter reads.

Last week, reported that four people had lost their jobs at Cymot, Namibia for alleged gross dishonesty after they drank more than their allocated limits at a company Christmas party in Windhoek towards the end of November last year.

But the chief executive officer of Cymot, Axel Theissen, said in a letter to this newspaper that his company’s stance remains that the individuals concerned committed serious misconduct.

This was done “by attempting to remove company property, namely alcohol (unopened bottles of beer) from the employer’s premises, despite specific instructions that no alcohol may be removed.”

Theissen further said some statements in s article were incorrect, as “the bottles of beer confiscated by Cymot in the vehicle were full and unopened.”

The Namibia Wholesale and Retail Workers Union’s secretary general, Thomas Hambuda, who represented the employees, said he was happy that two of them got their jobs back.

“Yes, two received letters on 12 February. We are happy they got their jobs back, and they are mothers and breadwinners. To lose a job for such allegations was, to me, just not fair. The third one got a settlement, and the fourth one did not want to take on Cymot. For now, I do not want to say more, but we will not stop fighting companies who think they can treat people unfairly and get away with it. This is not the first time I am working with people who were unfairly dismissed by companies like Cymot,” Hambuda stressed.

According to a source, the two people were reinstated because the company realised they were unfairly dismissed.

“The two women were totally innocent, and the owner of the car admitted guilt. After your newspaper sent questions over the issue, they panicked, and to fix things, they decided to reinstate the two at least. Firing people at Cymot is an old story. If you look deeper, you will find bigger and more shocking stories,” the source said.

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