KAT retrenchment talks set to start

THE first face-to-face negotiations between Karas Abattoir and Tannery (KAT) and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) on voluntary retrenchment packages for about 72 workers are due to begin today at Keetmanshoop.

The negotiations come after both sides rejected the other’s proposals last week. The acting Secretary General of Nafau, Kiros Sackarias, and the Secretary General of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), Evalistus Karonda will represent the workers, The Namibian was informed.The abattoir management has offered three months’ full pay, one week’s severance pay for every year worked and compensation for accumulated leave.The union is pushing for two weeks’ severance pay for every year worked, long-service bonuses of N$1 500, a relocation allowance of N$600 and a pro-rata bonus for workers employed after January 2006.In addition, the union wants tax exemption on severance packages and an additional amount of N$1 500 for every worker “as a token of appreciation”.The restructuring process was necessitated by the closure of KAT’s unprofitable ostrich-slaughtering plant.The acting Secretary General of Nafau, Kiros Sackarias, and the Secretary General of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), Evalistus Karonda will represent the workers, The Namibian was informed.The abattoir management has offered three months’ full pay, one week’s severance pay for every year worked and compensation for accumulated leave.The union is pushing for two weeks’ severance pay for every year worked, long-service bonuses of N$1 500, a relocation allowance of N$600 and a pro-rata bonus for workers employed after January 2006.In addition, the union wants tax exemption on severance packages and an additional amount of N$1 500 for every worker “as a token of appreciation”.The restructuring process was necessitated by the closure of KAT’s unprofitable ostrich-slaughtering plant.