Erongo Red strikers back at work

THE strike that had brought the Erongo Regional Electricity Distributor (E-Red) to a standstill since Thursday ended yesterday afternoon after the company and the Mineworkers Union of Namibian (MUN) reached agreement on salary increases.

MUN General Secretary Joseph Hengari announced the end of the strike at 15h00 and notified striking workers to return to work with immediate effect. Workers were encouraged to keep the offices open until 18h00 yesterday to allow people enough time to buy pre-paid electricity.Only a couple of hours earlier, strikers were still barring access to all E-Red offices and workshops.Pay points had been closed since Thursday afternoon, leaving many people without power over the weekend.Even the head office’s doors were barricaded and management and non-striking employees needed the assistance of the Police to get to work.E-Red’s CEO, Gerhard Coeln, said at one point the Police were called in to disperse the strikers from the entrances to offices.Eventually the Governor of Erongo, Samuel Nuuyoma, was called on to mediate an agreement – which was reached just before 15h00.Coeln’s estimate was that the strike cost E-Red about N$1 million.According to Hengari, the signing of the agreement was proof that the MUN was a force to be reckoned with and committed to the needs of its members.About 80 per cent of E-Red’s workforce belong to the MUN.The final agreement involved a 7 per cent salary increase, with additional transport and electricity subsidies of N$300 and N$350.Other perks included standby allowances, salary deduction options and a uniform policy.According to Coeln, this was more or less what E-Red had offered – and the MUN had rejected – before the strike started.The final E-Red offer before the strike was a 7 per cent increase, including transport and electricity subsidies.The MUN said it wanted at least 7 per cent plus additional benefits, and according to Hengari, that is exactly what the workers got.Nuuyoma, who was at the signing of the agreement, said the strike should be a learning experience for both parties, and that the battle should in future be won at the negotiating table without affecting the consumer.Workers were encouraged to keep the offices open until 18h00 yesterday to allow people enough time to buy pre-paid electricity.Only a couple of hours earlier, strikers were still barring access to all E-Red offices and workshops.Pay points had been closed since Thursday afternoon, leaving many people without power over the weekend.Even the head office’s doors were barricaded and management and non-striking employees needed the assistance of the Police to get to work.E-Red’s CEO, Gerhard Coeln, said at one point the Police were called in to disperse the strikers from the entrances to offices.Eventually the Governor of Erongo, Samuel Nuuyoma, was called on to mediate an agreement – which was reached just before 15h00.Coeln’s estimate was that the strike cost E-Red about N$1 million.According to Hengari, the signing of the agreement was proof that the MUN was a force to be reckoned with and committed to the needs of its members.About 80 per cent of E-Red’s workforce belong to the MUN.The final agreement involved a 7 per cent salary increase, with additional transport and electricity subsidies of N$300 and N$350.Other perks included standby allowances, salary deduction options and a uniform policy.According to Coeln, this was more or less what E-Red had offered – and the MUN had rejected – before the strike started.The final E-Red offer before the strike was a 7 per cent increase, including transport and electricity subsidies.The MUN said it wanted at least 7 per cent plus additional benefits, and according to Hengari, that is exactly what the workers got.Nuuyoma, who was at the signing of the agreement, said the strike should be a learning experience for both parties, and that the battle should in future be won at the negotiating table without affecting the consumer.