Namib Mills strike turns violent: Union leader punches contractor amid claims of replacement labour hiring

A union representative assaulted a contractor during the current lockout at Namib Mills, as tensions escalated over claims that the company is hiring replacement labour.

The unease between workers and Namib Mills turned violent on Monday evening, when the leader of the Namibian Revolutionary Transport and Manufacturing Union (Naretu) punched a man associated with a third-party contractor.

Naretu commander-in-chief Petersen Kambinda confirmed the incident to The Namibian yesterday.

“Last night, the company tried to sneak in the employees of the subcontractor, 360 Consult, and we dealt with them decisively,” he said.

Kambinda said nine 360 Consult workers were brought in allegedly to replace the the workers striking in the milling department.

Kambinda said during the commotion, a man left the bus transporting the workers and approached Kambinda aggressively. “In self-defence, I punched him,” he claimed.

Kambinda said he was not aware that any criminal charges had been laid against him.

The Namibian was unable to confirm the assault with the contractor involved.

According to the strike and lockout rules negotiated between Namib Mills and the union, the company does not have the right to hire new contractors to replace striking employees.

Namib Mills human resources head Amorey Pote yesterday denied that the company brought in workers in contravention with strike and lockout rules.

“Our sister company, Feedmaster, brought in the workers. They have an established contract with 360 Consult,” she said.

Pote explained that Feedmaster and Namib Mills share a main gate.

She said they had advised Feedmaster to use a side entrance for the duration of the lockout to bus in its employees.

Feedmaster’s head of operations, Abrie Gryffenberg, yesterday declined to comment on the incident.

360 Consult owner Bennie Buys told The Namibian that his employees are not involved in the Namib Mills strike.

“360 Consult was contracted to provide service to Feedmaster, and explicitly not Namib Mills,” he said.

Monday was the first day of locking out Namib Mills workers.

The workers, represented by the union, gave notice of their intention to start striking on Tuesday after six months of failed salary negotiations.

In response to concerns about breaching strike rules, Namib Mills started locking out workers from its offices countrywide on Monday.

Yesterday the hundreds of employees nationwide started their protest at the company premises.

“Today, the anger of the workers has escalated. They are no longer tolerating the nonsense of Namib Mills,” Kambinda said yesterday.

Naretu representatives have been investigating whether Namib Mills is breaking the strike rules. But the investigation has been hampered by Monday’s incident, Pote said.

“Our biggest wish is to maintain peaceful processes. We would like to settle this dispute as soon as possible,” she said.

“People are frustrated by what the company is doing [which could be] against the strike policy. But we hope to talk and reach an agreement,” said a shop steward, who asked to only be identified only as Tiye.

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