Strike freezes cold storage business

A STRIKE running into two weeks by workers of the only cold storage at the Walvis Bay harbour has brought the daily flow of frozen products in and out of the facility to a complete standstill.

No fish has gone in or left Commercial Cold Storage since last Monday May 10 when 38 workers of the company decided to go on strike over a deadlock in salary and benefit negotiations. The workers have been sleeping outside the cold storage on the harbour quay since the start of the strike to protect their jobs should contract workers be called in.If the industrial action by the workers is not resolved soon, other workers at the harbour from NamPort and Stevedoring companies have indicated they would join in to stop all activity at the port.According to Erastus Haidula, shop steward and spokesperson for the striking workers, the company’s losses are already running into millions because of the strike.He told The Namibian the South African company makes up to N$1 million per day.Negotiations between the company and the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) started in October last year when the union made their When the negotiations reached a deadlock and conciliation also failed, the workers decided to go on strike.They demanded increases of 13, 12 and 11 per cent in different job categories, an increase in housing allowances, better medical aid and an ice bonus for working in cold conditions.They further charged that, as a South African company, all money was taken out of Namibia and that the company did not make any donations in Namibia.”We have not even supported the railway project,” said the shop steward.According to Haidula, the company only offered 10,5, 9,5 and 8,5 increases and only a N$15 increase on housing.”We are sleeping here to secure our work and will stay for as long as it takes to reach a solution,” the workers, who armed themselves with knobkieries and other traditional weapons, said on Tuesday.They have built themselves a shelter with pallets standing around on the quay and have called it the Big Brother house.They are well aware of the fact that they are also not getting paid while they are on strike but say: “We are fighting for human rights.”Willie Venter, General Manager of Commercial Cold Storage, said he was not prepared to make a statement.He did acknowledge that everything was standing still and that the company was obviously suffering losses.NamPort is also losing money as ships are not paying any harbour fees at the moment.According to Johnny Smit, vessels are waiting outside the harbour for the issue to be resolved.”This is not good for NamPort as we are losing money.”He could not quantify the losses, but said vessels would normally off-load fish on a daily basis.Smit said it was difficult for NamPort to get involved in the issue as the head office of Commercial Cold Storage is in South Africa.According to Werner Duvenhage of Namsov, it is the mid-water trawler section of the fishing industry that is hit hardest by the strike.”It is the only storage space and our vessels cannot come in to discharge their catches.”Fish already in the store also cannot be sent to clients.”We have a problem supplying our clients in Namibia, South Africa and even Mozambique,” said Duvenhage.He said it was not yet a crisis as only ten per cent of horse mackerel catches were off-loaded at the facility.The other 90 per cent are transshipped in the harbour.”It is not comfortable at the moment, but still manageable.”But Duvenhage said that if it carried on much longer, it would become a problem.John Uushona, regional organiser of Natau, said the company’s HR Manager had flown to Walvis Bay from Cape Town on Tuesday to meet with the union.”The only message he had was that the company was standing by its offer.”In a petition the workers were still waiting to hand over to the GM since the start of the strike, they demanded to see the director of the company and that the local GM should leave since he did not co-operate with workers.They also appealed to the Ministry of Labour to investigate the company’s labour practises.The workers have been sleeping outside the cold storage on the harbour quay since the start of the strike to protect their jobs should contract workers be called in.If the industrial action by the workers is not resolved soon, other workers at the harbour from NamPort and Stevedoring companies have indicated they would join in to stop all activity at the port.According to Erastus Haidula, shop steward and spokesperson for the striking workers, the company’s losses are already running into millions because of the strike.He told The Namibian the South African company makes up to N$1 million per day.Negotiations between the company and the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) started in October last year when the union made their When the negotiations reached a deadlock and conciliation also failed, the workers decided to go on strike.They demanded increases of 13, 12 and 11 per cent in different job categories, an increase in housing allowances, better medical aid and an ice bonus for working in cold conditions.They further charged that, as a South African company, all money was taken out of Namibia and that the company did not make any donations in Namibia.”We have not even supported the railway project,” said the shop steward.According to Haidula, the company only offered 10,5, 9,5 and 8,5 increases and only a N$15 increase on housing.”We are sleeping here to secure our work and will stay for as long as it takes to reach a solution,” the workers, who armed themselves with knobkieries and other traditional weapons, said on Tuesday.They have built themselves a shelter with pallets standing around on the quay and have called it the Big Brother house.They are well aware of the fact that they are also not getting paid while they are on strike but say: “We are fighting for human rights.”Willie Venter, General Manager of Commercial Cold Storage, said he was not prepared to make a statement.He did acknowledge that everything was standing still and that the company was obviously suffering losses.NamPort is also losing money as ships are not paying any harbour fees at the moment.According to Johnny Smit, vessels are waiting outside the harbour for the issue to be resolved.”This is not good for NamPort as we are losing money.”He could not quantify the losses, but said vessels would normally off-load fish on a daily basis.Smit said it was difficult for NamPort to get involved in the issue as the head office of Commercial Cold Storage is in South Africa.According to Werner Duvenhage of Namsov, it is the mid-water trawler section of the fishing industry that is hit hardest by the strike.”It is the only storage space and our vessels cannot come in to discharge their catches.”Fish already in the store also cannot be sent to clients.”We have a problem supplying our clients in Namibia, South Africa and even Mozambique,” said Duvenhage.He said it was not yet a crisis as only ten per cent of horse mackerel catches were off-loaded at the facility.The other 90 per cent are transshipped in the harbour.”It is not comfortable at the moment, but still manageable.”But Duvenhage said that if it carried on much longer, it would become a problem.John Uushona, regional organiser of Natau, said the company’s HR Manager had flown to Walvis Bay from Cape Town on Tuesday to meet with the union.”The only message he had was that the company was standing by its offer.”In a petition the workers were still waiting to hand over to the GM since the start of the strike, they demanded to see the director of the company and that the local GM should leave since he did not co-operate with workers.They also appealed to the Ministry of Labour to investigate the company’s labour practises.