Nafwu, farmers struggle to find common ground

THE Namibia Farmworkers Union (Nafwu) on Friday traded harsh words with organisations representing farmers.

Nafwu’s General Secretary Alfred Angula said the Agricultural Employers Association (AEA) and Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) had offered zero pay increases to farmworkers for the coming two years until 2006. There had been no offer when the two sides had met twice this year to negotiate wages as stipulated by the minimum wage agreement.Nafwu initially proposed a cash increment of 45 per cent on the current N$429 earned by farmworkers, coupled with another 45 per cent increase on the rations that they were supposed to get.When the AEA and the NNFU rejected increases, the farmworkers’ representatives reduced their demand to around 30 per cent.Angula said the AEA and NNFU had repeated that they could not offer wage increases.They cited a combination of reasons that included the proposed national pension scheme for farmworkers and the recently introduced land tax.The Nafwu leadership said they found it unacceptable that the NNFU, mainly black communal farmers, had given the land tax as a reason when they were not affected by that tax.”It seems to us, the employers are taking revenge on the Government announcement of the expropriation of land,” claimed Angula.He said the purpose of the minimum wage was to improve the living standards of workers, reduce poverty and curb exploitation.”We should note that a hungry nation can result in an angry nation and we do not want an angry nation,” he warned.AEA Chairman Helmut Fortsch told The Namibian that Nafwu was being selective on the reasons provided for the zero increase.He said they had proposed a zero increase for 2004-5 because commodity prices in the agricultural sector had increased and farmers were finding it difficult to survive.”Our proposal was to review the situation in a year’s time.We are still implementing the land tax and it is not yet clear what the impact will be on farmers.We need time to assess the situation before we talk about the next increases,” Fortsch said.He dismissed suggestions of revenge or delaying tactics and accused Angula of using the media for his outbursts.”He never reacted to our reasons with a single word.After the first proposal, he just put down another.The best is that we discuss the issues among ourselves and not just make statements,” he said.The NNFU refused to comment on the issue.Nafwu and its leadership said they would approach the Office of the Labour Commissioner for conciliation or arbitration.There had been no offer when the two sides had met twice this year to negotiate wages as stipulated by the minimum wage agreement.Nafwu initially proposed a cash increment of 45 per cent on the current N$429 earned by farmworkers, coupled with another 45 per cent increase on the rations that they were supposed to get.When the AEA and the NNFU rejected increases, the farmworkers’ representatives reduced their demand to around 30 per cent.Angula said the AEA and NNFU had repeated that they could not offer wage increases.They cited a combination of reasons that included the proposed national pension scheme for farmworkers and the recently introduced land tax.The Nafwu leadership said they found it unacceptable that the NNFU, mainly black communal farmers, had given the land tax as a reason when they were not affected by that tax.”It seems to us, the employers are taking revenge on the Government announcement of the expropriation of land,” claimed Angula.He said the purpose of the minimum wage was to improve the living standards of workers, reduce poverty and curb exploitation.”We should note that a hungry nation can result in an angry nation and we do not want an angry nation,” he warned.AEA Chairman Helmut Fortsch told The Namibian that Nafwu was being selective on the reasons provided for the zero increase.He said they had proposed a zero increase for 2004-5 because commodity prices in the agricultural sector had increased and farmers were finding it difficult to survive.”Our proposal was to review the situation in a year’s time.We are still implementing the land tax and it is not yet clear what the impact will be on farmers.We need time to assess the situation before we talk about the next increases,” Fortsch said.He dismissed suggestions of revenge or delaying tactics and accused Angula of using the media for his outbursts.”He never reacted to our reasons with a single word.After the first proposal, he just put down another.The best is that we discuss the issues among ourselves and not just make statements,” he said.The NNFU refused to comment on the issue.Nafwu and its leadership said they would approach the Office of the Labour Commissioner for conciliation or arbitration.