Unions bang labour-hire drum

‘BLOODSUCKERS’. That is the accusation levelled at labour-hire companies by the labour unions.

Applauding Government’s decision to outlaw labour hire, the President of the National Union of Namibian Workers, yesterday Alpheus Muheua, called on unions to pursue some companies who allegedly ‘dumped’ labour-hire workers and get them re-employed. ‘We strongly call upon our structures to go door-to-door at every work place where labour hire is known to have been used and have direct dialogue with those employers so as to employ our members directly. We are aware that this process has already commenced and would therefore encourage all our structures to push ahead much more vigorously,’ he said. Muheua claimed that some labour-hire companies have started ‘unco-ordinated’ layoffs of workers only to replace them with new ones. Union leaders claim that companies who used labour-hire services for more than four years are suddenly no longer interested in the workers just because of the implementation of the new Labour Act. He also urged their members to report ‘manipulative activities’ of labour-hire companies so they can be reported to the Government. The unionist claimed labour-hire companies were nothing but ‘bloodsuckers’. Their reaction comes less than a week after Labour Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko claimed that some labour-hire companies had ‘repackaged’ the concept of labour hire. christof@namibian.com.na