Unions Must Get Their Act Together

THE RECENT aborted strike of security guards across the country once again demonstrates the poor planning and inefficiency on the part of our labour unions.

Poised to strike on Wednesday this week, security guards in the capital were informed at the eleventh hour that the action had been halted for the time being as unions had instead decided to “follow the advice of the Labour Commissioner and apply for a conciliation board” to settle the salary dispute. What the two unions – the Namibian Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Natau) and the Namibian Security Guards and Watchmen Union (Nasgwu) – have done is a disservice to their members and the country at large, the business community included.Instead of doing their ‘homework’ properly before calling a strike, they called the strike, to which their members responded very positively overall it seems, only to call it off without properly informing their members (or indeed the media!) that this was to be the case.Many of those workers who had gathered in the early hours of the morning in Katutura prepared to embark on the strike, were only then told that it would not go ahead.For some of these, there could be repercussions at their place of work, which it appears is one of the things the unions in question failed to consider.Foremost though, is the fact that unions failed their members, and this much is clear from the adverse reaction from many security guards.Meanwhile Natau’s General Secretary, John Kwedhi, confirmed that the matter was now in the hands of the Labour Commissioner for arbitration but that unions would not back down on their demand for a 15 per cent increase.We are not necessarily taking issue with the fact that the strike was called off, because there is always the likelihood in such scenarios that there could be settlement and or further negotiations at such times, but it is the seeming disinterest on the part of these unions to timeously inform members of this fact.While the press conference announcing the strike would go ahead was held early afternoon, it is understood that the decision to back off was taken later in the day, after unions had been advised the action would have been illegal, and yet the media were not informed at the time of going to press, and many workers themselves were only informed in the early morning hours when they were already assembling in preparation for the work stoppage.One letter writer wrote that “the way unions want security guards to strike without following the necessary procedures will lead to many Namibians going on the streets.They are aware that they are playing with poor people’s bread and butter by telling them to go on strike illegally”.The writer then went on to inform his union leadership of the proper procedures that needed to be followed in this matter, and urged them to take them to heart! Another issue that the unions have failed to act on, or at least seek some kind of clarity from the authorities, is whether in fact the new anti-labour hire legislation in the new Labour Code, soon to be enacted into law, is going to adversely affect security companies, which are in fact operating along the same principles that Parliament now seeks to outlaw.The only matter currently preoccupying the unions, at least publicly, is the question of a 15 per cent salary increase.We do not question the fact that the concern of security guards is valid.These men and women are paid pitiful salaries in view of their long hours of work and extended shifts.Something does need to be done about it, whether their remuneration is increased or a minimum wage agreed upon, for example.But unions certainly also need to look at the issue of whether all guards could in the future be jobless in light of the ban on labour hire, and prepare their members to discuss and debate the future of this industry.We trust that the unions will ensure in future that they do their homework better, and avoid alarmist actions, both to their members and to the country as a whole, which definitely counts on the services of security companies given the high crime rate in Namibia.What the two unions – the Namibian Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Natau) and the Namibian Security Guards and Watchmen Union (Nasgwu) – have done is a disservice to their members and the country at large, the business community included.Instead of doing their ‘homework’ properly before calling a strike, they called the strike, to which their members responded very positively overall it seems, only to call it off without properly informing their members (or indeed the media!) that this was to be the case.Many of those workers who had gathered in the early hours of the morning in Katutura prepared to embark on the strike, were only then told that it would not go ahead.For some of these, there could be repercussions at their place of work, which it appears is one of the things the unions in question failed to consider.Foremost though, is the fact that unions failed their members, and this much is clear from the adverse reaction from many security guards.Meanwhile Natau’s General Secretary, John Kwedhi, confirmed that the matter was now in the hands of the Labour Commissioner for arbitration but that unions would not back down on their demand for a 15 per cent increase.We are not necessarily taking issue with the fact that the strike was called off, because there is always the likelihood in such scenarios that there could be settlement and or further negotiations at such times, but it is the seeming disinterest on the part of these unions to timeously inform members of this fact.While the press conference announcing the strike would go ahead was held early afternoon, it is understood that the decision to back off was taken later in the day, after unions had been advised the action would have been illegal, and yet the media were not informed at the time of going to press, and many workers themselves were only informed in the early morning hours when they were already assembling in preparation for the work stoppage.One letter writer wrote that “the way unions want security guards to strike without following the necessary procedures will lead to many Namibians going on the streets.They are aware that they are playing with poor people’s bread and butter by telling them to go on strike illegally”.The writer then went on to inform his union leadership of the proper procedures that needed to be followed in this matter, and urged them to take them to heart! Another issue that the unions have failed to act on, or at least seek some kind of clarity from the authorities, is whether in fact the new anti-labour hire legislation in the new Labour Code, soon to be enacted into law, is going to adversely affect security companies, which are in fact operating along the same principles that Parliament now seeks to outlaw.The only matter currently preoccupying the unions, at least publicly, is the question of a 15 per cent salary increase.We do not question the fact that the concern of security guards is valid.These men and women are paid pitiful salaries in view of their long hours of work and extended shifts.Something does need to be done about it, whether their remuneration is increased or a minimum wage agreed upon, for example.But unions certainly also need to look at the issue of whether all guards could in the future be jobless in light of the ban on labour hire, and prepare their members to discuss and debate the future of this industry.We trust that the unions will ensure in future that they do their homework better, and avoid alarmist actions, both to their members and to the country as a whole, which definitely counts on the services of security companies given the high crime rate in Namibia.