Premier in bid to settle Ramatex wage dispute

THE protracted wage dispute at the Ramatex Textile Factory is now enjoying the attention of Prime Minister Nahas Angula.

Nearly six months of negotiations and meetings between the Namibian Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) and Ramatex have failed to produce an agreement. Nafau has already attended two meetings with Angula this month, and last week Trade and Industry and Labour officials joined the discussions.NO INCREASE IN 3 YEARS The Prime Minister did not want to comment yet on his role in the negotiations when approached by The Namibian.He said he first wanted the opportunity to meet the factory representatives and hear their arguments.Workers have been airing unhappiness about their working conditions on radio chat shows recently, calling for Government intervention.Having gone without a salary increase for more than three years, Nafau last year approached Ramatex in accordance with their recognition agreement for an increase of double the hourly pay rate, which currently ranges between N$3 and N$4,50.Later on in negotiations, they reduced their demand by 50 cents in the hope of getting Ramatex to agree.Ramatex was only prepared to offer a 10-cent increase on the hourly rate and after conciliation talks in December, upped its offer to a 15-cent increase.Ramatex General Manager BK Ong said yesterday that at its most recent talks with Nafau this month, it proposed that if Nafau accepted the 15-cent an hour increase, it would consider a further increase in a year’s time, taking productivity and financial factors into account.”There is still a deadlock.We are waiting to hear from the union on our proposal.They wanted to go back to their members and discuss it,” said Ong.”Productivity is low at the moment.It is below our expectations.”But Nafau appears unlikely to entertain this proposal.FACTORS AT PLAY Acting General Secretary Kiros Sackarias said other similar agreements had been made in the past and, according to him, were not honoured.Sackarias said he was pleased that Angula was considering their situation and described last week’s talks with him as “fruitful”.Sackarias said it was important for Government to understand the factors at play in the wage deadlock so that the union would not be blamed if there was a negative outcome.He said the reality still existed that the factory could shut down its Namibian operations at any time in search of greener pastures and the union and disgruntled workers could be blamed for a situation where thousands could be left jobless.”It appears that everyone, the union, Government, we are all being held to ransom by Ramatex,” said Sackarias.”If 6 000 employees lose their jobs, it’s a political thing.We want Government to be a part of the negotiations so that we are not unnecessarily blamed if things go wrong.Government must also know if things go wrong, why they went wrong.”Sackarias said the union was requesting proof that Ramatex’s Namibian operations were not profitable and that it could not afford to increase workers’ salaries.Ramatex has claimed that it has suffered losses of millions of dollars on the Windhoek operation, partly because negative publicity has affected its relations with buyers, and also because of low productivity levels on the part of Namibian workers.STRIKE LIKELY Nafau said it had decided not to push for arbitration after conciliation talks failed last month, because the outcome was unlikely to be favourable to all sides.A workers’ representative The Namibian spoke to said although a strike appeared to be their only option at this point, they did not want to resort to industrial action as it would probably not resolve their problem and instead drive the company out of Namibia.”It is not what we want [to strike].We don’t want to be the only ones to suffer.We want the buyers to know how we are treated.The factory must also feel it,” a worker said.Nafau is calling for an in-depth analysis on why productivity at the Ramatex factory is low and whether there is a correlation between productivity levels, lack of worker incentives and working conditions.”Something really needs to be done.They [Ramatex] complain that they are being tarnished, but they are exploiting our people,” said Sackarias.Workers only earn a basic wage calculated on an hourly rate and receive no other benefits.Nafau has already attended two meetings with Angula this month, and last week Trade and Industry and Labour officials joined the discussions. NO INCREASE IN 3 YEARS The Prime Minister did not want to comment yet on his role in the negotiations when approached by The Namibian.He said he first wanted the opportunity to meet the factory representatives and hear their arguments.Workers have been airing unhappiness about their working conditions on radio chat shows recently, calling for Government intervention.Having gone without a salary increase for more than three years, Nafau last year approached Ramatex in accordance with their recognition agreement for an increase of double the hourly pay rate, which currently ranges between N$3 and N$4,50. Later on in negotiations, they reduced their demand by 50 cents in the hope of getting Ramatex to agree.Ramatex was only prepared to offer a 10-cent increase on the hourly rate and after conciliation talks in December, upped its offer to a 15-cent increase.Ramatex General Manager BK Ong said yesterday that at its most recent talks with Nafau this month, it proposed that if Nafau accepted the 15-cent an hour increase, it would consider a further increase in a year’s time, taking productivity and financial factors into account.”There is still a deadlock.We are waiting to hear from the union on our proposal.They wanted to go back to their members and discuss it,” said Ong.”Productivity is low at the moment.It is below our expectations.”But Nafau appears unlikely to entertain this proposal.FACTORS AT PLAY Acting General Secretary Kiros Sackarias said other similar agreements had been made in the past and, according to him, were not honoured.Sackarias said he was pleased that Angula was considering their situation and described last week’s talks with him as “fruitful”.Sackarias said it was important for Government to understand the factors at play in the wage deadlock so that the union would not be blamed if there was a negative outcome.He said the reality still existed that the factory could shut down its Namibian operations at any time in search of greener pastures and the union and disgruntled workers could be blamed for a situation where thousands could be left jobless.”It appears that everyone, the union, Government, we are all being held to ransom by Ramatex,” said Sackarias.”If 6 000 employees lose their jobs, it’s a political thing.We want Government to be a part of the negotiations so that we are not unnecessarily blamed if things go wrong.Government must also know if things go wrong, why they went wrong.”Sackarias said the union was requesting proof that Ramatex’s Namibian operations were not profitable and that it could not afford to increase workers’ salaries.Ramatex has claimed that it has suffered losses of millions of dollars on the Windhoek operation, partly because negative publicity has affected its relations with buyers, and also because of low productivity levels on the part of Namibian workers.STRIKE LIKELY Nafau said it had decided not to push for arbitration after conciliation talks failed last month, because the outcome was unlikely to be favourable to all sides.A workers’ representative The Namibian spoke to said although a strike appeared to be their only option at this point, they did not want to resort to industrial action as it would probably not resolve their problem and instead drive the company out of Namibia.”It is not what we want [to strike].We don’t want to be the only ones to suffer.We want the buyers to know how we are treated.The factory must also feel it,” a worker said.Nafau is calling for an in-depth analysis on why productivity at the Ramatex factory is low and whether there is a correlation between productivity levels, lack of worker incentives and working conditions.”Something really needs to be done.They [Ramatex] complain that they are being tarnished, but they are exploiting our people,” said Sackarias.Workers only earn a basic wage calculated on an hourly rate and receive no other benefits.