The Namibia Seamen and Allied Workers’ Union (Nasawu) has rejected Gendev Fishing Group’s proposed N$6 700 monthly salary offer, with the company confirming none of its employees accepted the proposal before the deadline yesterday morning.
The dispute centres on whether the offer amounts to a genuine salary increase, or whether it is simply a change to workers’ existing guaranteed working hours and pay structure.
Gendev issued an internal memo to employees on 22 July, stating that it had made an offer to increase the guaranteed monthly salary from N$2 960 for 98 hours to N$6 700 for 195 hours.
Nasawu president Paulus Hango has rejected the company’s description of the offer as an increase, arguing that Gendev was presenting normal working hours as a new benefit.
“The manner in which the company is handling the negotiations is the problem. They are missing the point,” Hango says.
He says workers should already be paid according to their legal working hours and that the company could not describe this as an increment.
“If the law says you should be paid nine hours, you cannot say it is an increment because those are normal working hours,” Hango says.
He says workers also had concerns about how payments were calculated, including sick leave and other employment benefits.
“You cannot come up with your own calculations and mislead people,” he says.
In the memo, management describes the proposal as “a significant offer to increase the basic guaranteed salary for all employees”.
Gendev acting managing director Ruby Rees has confirmed the authenticity of the memo and says the proposal followed requests from employees to move away from the guaranteed-hour system to a full monthly salary.
“In the prior years, the employees have signed a guaranteed contract of 98 hours, which means if they work or do not work, the employees will receive 98 hours,” Rees says.
“The union did not yet approve the current status quo,” she adds.
The salary dispute comes as the fishing industry continues to face broader concerns around job security, quota availability and working conditions.
By 08h30 yesterday, when the company’s deadline for acceptance expired, Gendev confirmed that none of its employees had accepted the N$6 700 offer.
Employees will, therefore, continue under the existing salary arrangement while the dispute between the company and the union remains unresolved.
Gendev shop steward Chris Shishoona says employees remained on a protected strike while discussions with the company continued.
“We have not reached an agreement yet, so we are still on the legal strike here. The company only stayed at a 40 cents increment across the board and zero increment on housing allowance and transport allowance,” Shishoona says.
The Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations says it could not provide a definitive view on the proposed adjustments without assessing the details of the offer.
Ministry spokesperson Maria Hedimbi, however, raises concern over the timeframe given to employees to consider the offer.
“The ministry would like to caution that an insufficient period for consideration may place employees under undue pressure or effectively compel employees to accept changes to their conditions of employment without a meaningful opportunity to review or negotiate,” Hedimbi says.
The latest dispute follows months of labour tensions at Gendev, including disagreements over working hours, salaries, possible retrenchments and operational challenges.
Earlier this year, Gendev announced plans to retrench 489 employees, citing financial difficulties linked to limited fishing quotas.
The retrenchment process was later placed on hold following engagements involving the company, employees and government.
