Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) is appealing to the government for a permanent solution to the plight of former Seaflower Pelagic Processing employees.
This came after the union successfully negotiated that the workers get paid monthly salaries until December.
Nafau thanked the government, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, for supporting former Seaflower employees who lost their jobs in 2020, and hopes the programme can be extended.
Nafau Erongo regional representative Johannes Shayuka at a press briefing at Walvis Bay yesterday said the ministry allocated a quota, which now ensures that the employees can take care of their families.
The employees recently received a back-pay from January to April, and will continue to receive a monthly salary for 2022 until December. This came as a result of continuous meetings between the union and the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) to continue supporting the group financially and making sure they do not end up on the street.
The agreement was signed between the two parties on 28 April.
“It was a long negotiation from January to April, but Nafau carefully negotiated with the right people, which led us to get a fair agreement. We are happy that the lives of these people are being taken care of until December. We hope for the programme to go beyond that period. We are appealing to the government through Fishcor to come up with a permanent solution. We have a lot of factory facilities like the United Fishing factory. We hope that it could be transformed into a working space,” he said.
He said the union wishes to continue negotiations that will sustain the group beyond December.
Shayuka, however, lashed out at Namibians who are criticising the group for getting paid without working.
“There were 665 workers in 2020. Tunacor employed some and we now remain with 550. We want them all to work, but where are we supposed to squeeze them in? The other factories already had their employees. It is not by choice that they are lying at home. They want to work. We are just thankful that they can receive something to take care of their families. They are not lazy. They need facilities to work in,” he said.
The workers’ spokesperson Immanuel David said: “We really appreciate the help, but we hope to start working. We are not content with just sitting here. We are young and have ambitions. Some of us even want to study. We also thank Nafau for its hard work. The union really proved itself as a union that represents its members,” he said.
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