WORKERS of Spar at Lüderitz in the !Nami-#Nus constituency are aggrieved over a wage agreement they signed with the retailer last Friday.
Some 29 workers have been striking since March, demanding wage increases and improved conditions of employment.
They resumed work on Monday.
The workers say they signed the agreement under pressure from Willem Absalom, the deputy general secretary of the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau).
Nafau’s shop steward at the Lüderitz Spar, Albertina Kalimbwe, says the workers demanded N20 per hour for service department staff, and N$15 per hour for cleaners and shelf packers.
Their wages at the time were N$6 per hour for the service department staff, and N$7,50 per hour for cleaners and shelf packers.
In addition they demanded an annual bonus, and housing, pension and transport allowances.
The workers have now received a 5% pension increase, and the company has bought a combi to transport them.
“We are very unhappy. Even though we seperated the departments and their demands, everybody only received a N$2,73 increase. We did not want to sign this agreement as we have received no increment for six years, and we wanted the increase backdated to March at least, but this was to no avail.
“The deputy general secretary just kept saying the company would not give more than that and demanded that we sign. But we are not happy,” Kalimbwe says.
The employees claim the company also violated striking rules by employing additional workers.
The supermarket’s supervisors, floor managers, and administrative staff reportedly stood in for cashiers.
The matter was initially heard as an urgent application in the Labour Court, which ruled in favour of the supermarket, saying the workers volunteered for their jobs.
An anonymous worker says the court ruling was disappointing and that Nafau representatives did not represent them fairly.
“This judgement is what has given the company the power to not respond to our demands in a fair manner,” the worker says.
Workers further claim the Lüderitz Spar is not in favour of union representation for workers, and has suspended two shop stewards.
Johannes Simanda was fired last August for reportedly eating a bread roll.
He appealed against the company’s action and is expected to hear the outcome of this soon. Kalimbwe was suspended last week for allegedly forging a sick note from a doctor and is awaiting a disciplinary hearing.
Absalom last week confirmed the company’s disapproval of union representation and said shop stewards are treated poorly.
He said the agreement the workers signed last week was, however, voted on before they accepted the offer.
“We as Nafau felt the N$2,73 was a reasonable offer as this would give them a monthly increase of about N$500,” he said.
The retailer’s human resources manager, Lucy Muhler, refused to comment on the matter.
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