Africa-Press – Namibia. Maria David WORKERS of the Walvis Bay-based Salt Company staged a peaceful demonstration to demand for the company to stop the retrenchment process. This comes after the company announced its plan to retrenched 25 workers due to lack of productivity at some of the departments.
Despite the demonstration for the company to reconsider its decision, the management is sticking to its guns. In a letter seen by Informanté today, company Managing Director Andre Snyman said the board of directors have resolved to go ahead with the retrenchment process.
“Nothing has changed, and thus your demands cannot be acceded too,” reads the letter. The employees from three different departments stand to lose their jobs.
The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) western regional secretary, Petrus Petrus, said the company should instead start the process of insourcing to allow all staff working on a casual basis to be employed permanently.
Petrus said that this is because there is evidence that there are enough employment opportunities at the company. Petrus added that there is a clear indication that the company does not have any grounds to retrench workers.
Their drive for retrenchment is based on draconic behaviour of capitalism to maximize profit at the expense of the workers, he said. According to Petrus, the company confirmed that their intention is to get rid of permanent employees and to make use of casuals, which they normally pay “slave salaries.”
“Casuals are not paid any benefits such as medical aid, housing allowance, pension, hence the move by the company to try and make all workers casuals, which is cheaper for them,” he said.
Casual workers reportedly use to earn N$49 per hour, but that it has now been reduced to N$25 per hour. Petrus further stated that in 2020, the company made a gross profit of N$123 million and a net profit of N$84 million, which is a 40% increase in profit compared to the previous year,
“Despite the company making a 40% increase in profit, they only gave employees a 3.5% salary increase. After a good year of productivity and good return for the company they want to reward employees by sending them into the street and later turn them into scape labourers,” he added.
Earlier this month, Walvis Bay Salt Company Human Resources Manager, Brumilda Britz, told Informante that the process to reduce the workforce at certain departments had commenced, and that the employees’ representatives were engaged.
Britz added that through their own investigations, a number of inefficient processes were identified and improvement projects assessed. Two business units specifically were identified as not operating productively and efficiently, which demanded for a change in the company’s strategy.
“The only options available to management regarding these business units involve a staffing restructure, and this unfortunately has the potential for job losses,” she added. Britz stated that management continually assesses the efficiencies of the operations.
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