Ramatex ups wage offer by 5 cents

RAMATEX workers are weighing up their options – whether to resort to industrial action or push for arbitration because of the factory’s unwillingness to meet demands for their first salary increase in three years.

At a conciliation meeting on Tuesday, the factory increased its original offer of a 10-cent increase of the hourly rate to 15 cents. The Namibian Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) said it was prepared to drop its demand of double the N$3 hourly rate of the average worker right down to only 50 cents extra per hour.Nafau Acting General Secretary Kiros Sackarias said on Wednesday that the conciliatory talks were “disappointing” and that there appeared little chance of their demand being met.”People come here to make money and nothing else.To pay 15 cents doesn’t make sense,” said Sackarias.During negotiations, the union had asked for increases from N$3 an hour to N$6,50 and for the wages of those earning N$4,50 an hour to be upped to N$8,50.Ramatex General Manager BK Ong confirmed to The Namibian that no solution had been reached during conciliatory talks.The factory continues to cite alleged poor productivity and production losses for its inability to meet workers’ demands.Ong said the factory had been keeping to a recognition agreement signed with the union in 2002, and would await feedback from the union as to how they wished to proceed to resolve the deadlock.He said it had to be borne in mind that although Ramatex was one of the country’s biggest enterprises, it had had to be set up from scratch.The factory was granted numerous financially beneficial concessions by both Government and the City of Windhoek.Ong said he still believed that the factory could continue to contribute to the country’s economic growth.The Ministry of Trade and Industry said that information at its disposal indicated that Ramatex’s Namibian operation had suffered losses of N$18 million in the 2003-04 financial year.Permanent Secretary Andrew Ndishishi told The Namibian on Wednesday that Government was trying to lessen the factory’s losses by facilitating the introduction of a shipping line from Walvis Bay.Currently Ramatex products are trucked to Cape Town, from where they are shipped abroad.Sackarias called on Government to take a greater interest in the plight of the workers.”They mustn’t just blame the unions and the workers when they [Ramatex] leave and make us the scapegoat.Where are the efforts from their side? They mustn’t just accuse us left and right.Someone in the Ministry [of Trade] must know what’s going on,” said Sackarias.Ndishishi said in accordance with the labour law, his Ministry could not get involved in the labour dispute currently at hand, and that workers had the Labour Commissioner at their disposal to address their needs.He said he was not sure what information the union was basing its demands on.”The process they are undergoing should be based on scientific imperatives, not on guess and assumption,” said Ndishishi.According to his information, Ndishishi said, Ramatex’s Windhoek operation was the second-best performer, after Malaysia, of the group’s businesses.He said Namibia was in discussions with Botswana to introduce a shipping line from Walvis Bay, which would reduce logistical costs not only for Ramatex but other businesses in the region as well.Ndishishi said a textile training centre that will be set up in Windhoek in the new year would hopefully produce more skilled textile workers who would be able to produce more.Despite concerns that Ramatex will withdraw from the country amidst labour tensions and better productivity in Asia, Ndishishi said Namibia still planned to become a major player in the textile and garment industry.”What can we do? We can’t stop workers from demonstrating.We have tried our best to explain to workers [the Ramatex situation],” said Ndishishi.He said it would be “catastrophic” if 7 000 workers found themselves without work over the labour dispute.Sackarias said the union would wait to hear the opinions of the workers before deciding on the next course of action.The labour talks have been dragging on for several months and the Labour Commissioner declared a dispute at the end of September.The Namibian Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau) said it was prepared to drop its demand of double the N$3 hourly rate of the average worker right down to only 50 cents extra per hour.Nafau Acting General Secretary Kiros Sackarias said on Wednesday that the conciliatory talks were “disappointing” and that there appeared little chance of their demand being met.”People come here to make money and nothing else.To pay 15 cents doesn’t make sense,” said Sackarias.During negotiations, the union had asked for increases from N$3 an hour to N$6,50 and for the wages of those earning N$4,50 an hour to be upped to N$8,50.Ramatex General Manager BK Ong confirmed to The Namibian that no solution had been reached during conciliatory talks. The factory continues to cite alleged poor productivity and production losses for its inability to meet workers’ demands.Ong said the factory had been keeping to a recognition agreement signed with the union in 2002, and would await feedback from the union as to how they wished to proceed to resolve the deadlock.He said it had to be borne in mind that although Ramatex was one of the country’s biggest enterprises, it had had to be set up from scratch.The factory was granted numerous financially beneficial concessions by both Government and the City of Windhoek.Ong said he still believed that the factory could continue to contribute to the country’s economic growth.The Ministry of Trade and Industry said that information at its disposal indicated that Ramatex’s Namibian operation had suffered losses of N$18 million in the 2003-04 financial year.Permanent Secretary Andrew Ndishishi told The Namibian on Wednesday that Government was trying to lessen the factory’s losses by facilitating the introduction of a shipping line from Walvis Bay.Currently Ramatex products are trucked to Cape Town, from where they are shipped abroad.Sackarias called on Government to take a greater interest in the plight of the workers.”They mustn’t just blame the unions and the workers when they [Ramatex] leave and make us the scapegoat.Where are the efforts from their side? They mustn’t just accuse us left and right.Someone in the Ministry [of Trade] must know what’s going on,” said Sackarias.Ndishishi said in accordance with the labour law, his Ministry could not get involved in the labour dispute currently at hand, and that workers had the Labour Commissioner at their disposal to address their needs.He said he was not sure what information the union was basing its demands on.”The process they are undergoing should be based on scientific imperatives, not on guess and assumption,” said Ndishishi.According to his information, Ndishishi said, Ramatex’s Windhoek operation was the second-best performer, after Malaysia, of the group’s businesses.He said Namibia was in discussions with Botswana to introduce a shipping line from Walvis Bay, which would reduce logistical costs not only for Ramatex but other businesses in the region as well.Ndishishi said a textile training centre that will be set up in Windhoek in the new year would hopefully produce more skilled textile workers who would be able to produce more.Despite concerns that Ramatex will withdraw from the country amidst labour tensions and better productivity in Asia, Ndishishi said Namibia still planned to become a major player in the textile and garment industry.”What can we do? We can’t stop workers from demonstrating.We have tried our best to explain to workers [the Ramatex situation],” said Ndishishi.He said it would be “catastrophic” if 7 000 workers found themselves without work over the labour dispute.Sackarias said the union would wait to hear the opinions of the workers before deciding on the next course of action.The labour talks have been dragging on for several months and the Labour Commissioner declared a dispute at the end of September.