CLOSE to 300 Salini SpA workers are set to embark on an industrial action on Monday to demand improved worker safety and health standards.
The workers at a meeting of the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) convened on Wednesday afternoon at Keetmanshoop, overwhelmingly mandated the union to issue a 48-hour strike notice to their employer.
The workers claimed exposure to sunlight for up to 10 hours, without even being provided with cold water.
“There is not even shade where workers can have their lunch, while the Italians go for their lunch to the canteen where they enjoy their meals under air conditioners,” Manwu secretary general Justina Jonas remarked.
Jonas said workers will embark on the planned strike unless the company improved the worker safety-and-health demands before Monday.
Government awarded Salini SpA a N$ 2,4 billion tender to build the Neckartal dam near Keetmanshoop.
Sexual harassment allegations
Fed-up with being allegedly sexually harassed by Italian managers on the workplace, female workers agreed to take a stand against the molesters.
They accused the Italian managers of inappropriate touching and soliciting sex on the workplace.
In addition, the workers claimed some of them have been threatened that their employment contracts would be terminated and are victimised after they had denied the molesters sex.
According to one worker, a manager whose name is known to The Namibian during work hours told her “lets go Bunga-Bunga”- an Italian word relating to sex.
“When I refused, the manager told me I will lose my employment contract,” the worker claimed.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the female workers decided to established a committee to fight sexual harassment on the workplace. It was agreed that the committee will come up with strategies to deal with the molesters on the spot. When workers recently raised concerns of safety-and-health and sexual harassment, the company’s head office in Rome, Italia emailed a statement to media houses saying the company takes seriously any accusation of a violation of work standards.
“In Namibia, Salini Impregilo has complete trust in its managers, who are conducting an investigation into the situation before deciding on the appropriate action to take,” the statement reads.
Furthermore, the company emphasised that it has a policy of zero tolerance regarding inappropriate behaviour, and it maintains the same policy regarding false accusations of this type of behaviour.
