Police arrest protesters at Aussenkehr grape firm

POLICE yesterday arrested 12 retrenched workers of the Grape Valley Management Company at Aussenkehr on charges of public violence, instigation and intimidating other workers and management.

Karas Regional Police Commander Josephat Abel said yesterday that the Police were formulating charges against the protesters. They are expected to appear in the Karasburg Magistrate’s Court today.Abel said additional Police officers from Noordoewer and Rosh Pinah had been dispatched to Aussenkehr, situated on the Orange River 360 km south of Keetmanshoop, to monitor the situation.The retrenched workers have blocked office entrances since Monday in protest against recent job cuts in which 164 of them lost their jobs.Two weeks ago, the laid-off workers, armed with sticks and knobkieries, blockaded the office building for five days and hampered the running of the business.They left the company premises after management and union representatives agreed to review the retrenchment packages offered to the 164 workers.The Namibian understands that the protests were sparked by the failure of the management and union to finalise the retrenchment negotiations by the end of last month.They have postponed the deadline until the end of September, The Namibian was informed.In an earlier interview, Grape Valley’s General Manager, Andre Vermaak, said the job cuts were necessitated by a decline in business and the strengthening of the Namibia dollar against the US dollar, which made exports less profitable.Attempts to get comment from Vermaak yesterday were unsuccessful.They are expected to appear in the Karasburg Magistrate’s Court today.Abel said additional Police officers from Noordoewer and Rosh Pinah had been dispatched to Aussenkehr, situated on the Orange River 360 km south of Keetmanshoop, to monitor the situation.The retrenched workers have blocked office entrances since Monday in protest against recent job cuts in which 164 of them lost their jobs.Two weeks ago, the laid-off workers, armed with sticks and knobkieries, blockaded the office building for five days and hampered the running of the business.They left the company premises after management and union representatives agreed to review the retrenchment packages offered to the 164 workers.The Namibian understands that the protests were sparked by the failure of the management and union to finalise the retrenchment negotiations by the end of last month.They have postponed the deadline until the end of September, The Namibian was informed.In an earlier interview, Grape Valley’s General Manager, Andre Vermaak, said the job cuts were necessitated by a decline in business and the strengthening of the Namibia dollar against the US dollar, which made exports less profitable.Attempts to get comment from Vermaak yesterday were unsuccessful.