Strike is on

By the end of business yesterday, a total of 2 734 factory workers had voted since Friday morning on whether or not to take industrial action, and only 269 decided against it.

In total, 2 457 Ramatex employees have decided that the time has come to down tools in order to get their demands from the company met. No wage increases since the company’s inception in 2001 and health hazards are the two main reasons cited by the Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) for the pending, yet undated strike.Speaking to The Namibian early last night, Nafau General Secretary Kiros Sacharias, having just informed workers of the outcome of the three day voting process, didn’t elaborate much, saying only that the union would hold a press conference today to inform the public on the process that would now follow.He did however show disappointment at Ramatex management for what he said were dishonest tactics.Speaking to The Namibian before the voting process was completed, Ramatex General Manager BK Ong said that the company had decided to give workers a 60 cents increase across the board, effective from the 1st of this month.Management still feels that workers are under-productive, but have decided on raising their initial offer of first 10 cents, then 15 cents in an effort to raise motivational levels.”Production is still below our expectations, but we realise that the industry we’re involved in is still very new in this country.So we can’t expect workers to be experts overnight,” he said.Management does not want to see industrial action take place, Ong said, as this would not only be bad for the company’s image, but would also be negative for workers and the country at large.He said that much of the criticism the company had received since its inception in 2001 related to workers and critics not understanding management’s side of things.”This will receive attention in the future,” Ong said.Sacharias, however ,said that the company’s decision to inform workers of this decision while they were busy voting showed dishonesty on their part.”We see this as dishonest.There was a platform for them to negotiate, and they failed,” he said.”And they’re forgetting salaries were not the only thing we were negotiating about,” he said.Nafau decided on moving towards industrial action last week when Ramatex cancelled a wage negotiation meeting with the union, after the latter arrived late.Sacharias charged that the company was using their late arrival as an excuse not to negotiate with them.Following the failed meeting with management, Nafau representatives addressed workers at the factory on the cancelled meeting, further charging that the General Manager had threatened that the factory would soon be closed.While Nafau has been pushing for double workers’ hourly rate, which ranges between N$3 and N$4, while Ramatex has since last year only increased an initial offer of a 10 cent increase to a 15 cent increase.No wage increases since the company’s inception in 2001 and health hazards are the two main reasons cited by the Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) for the pending, yet undated strike.Speaking to The Namibian early last night, Nafau General Secretary Kiros Sacharias, having just informed workers of the outcome of the three day voting process, didn’t elaborate much, saying only that the union would hold a press conference today to inform the public on the process that would now follow.He did however show disappointment at Ramatex management for what he said were dishonest tactics.Speaking to The Namibian before the voting process was completed, Ramatex General Manager BK Ong said that the company had decided to give workers a 60 cents increase across the board, effective from the 1st of this month.Management still feels that workers are under-productive, but have decided on raising their initial offer of first 10 cents, then 15 cents in an effort to raise motivational levels. “Production is still below our expectations, but we realise that the industry we’re involved in is still very new in this country.So we can’t expect workers to be experts overnight,” he said.Management does not want to see industrial action take place, Ong said, as this would not only be bad for the company’s image, but would also be negative for workers and the country at large.He said that much of the criticism the company had received since its inception in 2001 related to workers and critics not understanding management’s side of things.”This will receive attention in the future,” Ong said.Sacharias, however ,said that the company’s decision to inform workers of this decision while they were busy voting showed dishonesty on their part.”We see this as dishonest.There was a platform for them to negotiate, and they failed,” he said.”And they’re forgetting salaries were not the only thing we were negotiating about,” he said.Nafau decided on moving towards industrial action last week when Ramatex cancelled a wage negotiation meeting with the union, after the latter arrived late.Sacharias charged that the company was using their late arrival as an excuse not to negotiate with them.Following the failed meeting with management, Nafau representatives addressed workers at the factory on the cancelled meeting, further charging that the General Manager had threatened that the factory would soon be closed.While Nafau has been pushing for double workers’ hourly rate, which ranges between N$3 and N$4, while Ramatex has since last year only increased an initial offer of a 10 cent increase to a 15 cent increase.