Govt ‘too soft’ on Ramatex

THE National Union of Namibian Workers claims Government is treating Ramatex with “kid gloves”, thus encouraging the Malaysian investors to be hostile towards Namibian workers.

“The kid gloves with which Government, from the word go, treated Ramatex largely, if not absolutely, contributed to this company’s unfriendly and therefore hostile attitude towards the workers and our union,” said NUNW Secretary General Evilastus Kaaronda. The NUNW claimed at a media briefing this week that the Ministry of Trade had become the de facto spokesperson of the Ramatex Textile Factory in Windhoek.Ramatex informed Government in that it was no longer interested in carrying on business in Namibia.However, its General Manager BK Ong said last week that it was business as usual at the factory and that the factory was working at full production.Kaaronda said NUNW was still convinced that there was nothing indicating that Ramatex had changed its mind about closing shop and going home.The NUNW Central Executive Committee said after a recent meeting that they were concerned that there was no agreement between the Government and Ramatex, except a business plan.Kaaronda said the NUNW proposed that an agreement be reached to reduce the commitment of the Government and force Ramatex to spell out its future plans.He said Ramatex must also be forced to bring back all the machinery they had sent back to Malaysia and be charged the relevant fees for exporting such machines.That, the umbrella union federation suggested, should be done while Government was looking for potential buyers in case Ramatex remained firm with its threats to close shop.Ramatex claims that local workers’ productivity is not up to scratch and bad publicity over working conditions in the Namibian factory is costing the multi-billion-dollar company millions.Kaaronda rejected claims that the Namibian work force was lazy and untrainable, saying they were unfair and unfounded.He, however, called for the establishment of a committee on productivity.According to Kaaronda, such a committee would benchmark productivity and make it a collective responsibility of Ramatex workers and management alike.The NUNW claimed at a media briefing this week that the Ministry of Trade had become the de facto spokesperson of the Ramatex Textile Factory in Windhoek.Ramatex informed Government in that it was no longer interested in carrying on business in Namibia.However, its General Manager BK Ong said last week that it was business as usual at the factory and that the factory was working at full production.Kaaronda said NUNW was still convinced that there was nothing indicating that Ramatex had changed its mind about closing shop and going home.The NUNW Central Executive Committee said after a recent meeting that they were concerned that there was no agreement between the Government and Ramatex, except a business plan.Kaaronda said the NUNW proposed that an agreement be reached to reduce the commitment of the Government and force Ramatex to spell out its future plans.He said Ramatex must also be forced to bring back all the machinery they had sent back to Malaysia and be charged the relevant fees for exporting such machines.That, the umbrella union federation suggested, should be done while Government was looking for potential buyers in case Ramatex remained firm with its threats to close shop.Ramatex claims that local workers’ productivity is not up to scratch and bad publicity over working conditions in the Namibian factory is costing the multi-billion-dollar company millions.Kaaronda rejected claims that the Namibian work force was lazy and untrainable, saying they were unfair and unfounded.He, however, called for the establishment of a committee on productivity.According to Kaaronda, such a committee would benchmark productivity and make it a collective responsibility of Ramatex workers and management alike.