{"id":26691,"date":"2022-08-02T15:57:17","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe"},"modified":"2022-08-02T16:35:36","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T16:35:36","slug":"healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare workers may not strike \u2013 Nangombe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>MERCY KARUUOMBE, DONALD MATTHYS, and SHELLEYGAN PETERSEN<\/p>\n

HEALTHCARE providers are not allowed to take part in the planned civil servants strike, the executive director of health and social services, Ben Nangombe, has warned.<\/p>\n

He yesterday said according to law, healthcare providers are not allowed to take part in any industrial action, and doing so would be illegal.<\/p>\n

This comes as more than 42 000 civil servants, including healthcare workers, over the weekend voted in favour of industrial action after the government refused their demand for a salary increment.<\/p>\n

Public servants want a 9% increase on their basic salary and housing benefit, as well as a 10% hike in their transport benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cProviders of essential services are precluded from the strike so that we do not foresee a situation where people who are precluded from striking by law actually engage in strike action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would mean it is against the law, and it would be illegal,\u201d Nangombe said.<\/p>\n

He said if public sector employees strike it would negatively impact the health ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny interruption elsewhere could have a negative impact on the service we provide to the public as per essential services as defined in the Labour Act,\u201d Nangombe said.<\/p>\n

Namibia Nurses Union (Nanu) secretary general Junias Shilunga, however, last week said nurses are allowed to participate in a strike, as long as they still provide the minimum service.<\/p>\n

Shilunga spoke at a joint press conference with the Public Service Union of Namibia (Psun) and Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna).<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example: If we are 10 working in a ward catering for 30 patients, what we are saying is that three nurses could cater to these patients, just to allow the service to continue, but on a minimal basis so nurses are protected to go on strike,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

‘RESPECT EMPLOYEES’<\/p>\n

Trade unions in support of the Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu) and the Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) last week said the government’s response to civil servants’ demands, saying it cannot afford to increase their salaries, is \u201cirresponsible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Paul Situmba, assistant general secretary at the Mine Workers Union of Namibia, said the government is subjecting itself to public scrutiny by admitting there is no money.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you tell your children there is no money in the house? It’s very irresponsible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Situmba said because of Namibia’s abundant natural resources, there is no excuse for poverty, unemployment, and talk of a lack of money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government should mobilise investment and ownership of our natural resources, and prioritise its employees\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the government should liaise with unions on an annual basis on the problems faced by its labour force.<\/p>\n

General secretary of the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union Justina Jonas shared Situmba’s sentiments, saying every Namibian should support the strike.<\/p>\n

Jonas said the government sets a bad example by claiming it cannot afford increments, while private sector employers can.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you (government) as an employer do not set an example to private sector employers, it will be a shame,\u201d Jonas said.<\/p>\n

She said the government should not play cat-and-mouse games during negotiations with Nantu and Napwu.<\/p>\n

EDUCATION MINISTRY<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture issued a circular instructing regional education directors to craft a plan to recover the two days teachers missed last week due to the voting process.<\/p>\n

The ministry closed public schools on 28 and 29 July to allow teachers to vote on the strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, teaching time was lost. On that basis, the circular is very clear: The days should be compensated for,\u201d executive director of education, arts and culture Sanet Steenkamp said.<\/p>\n

Steenkamp said schools could consider the extension of teaching hours on future designated days to recoup the days missed.<\/p>\n

NO-PAY CONSEQUENCES<\/p>\n

Labour expert Sydwill Scholtz this week warned that if the government cannot afford increases, lay-offs could be lurking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it is merely a case of the government not wanting to grant the increases sought, then it would be a different ball game. The only way to avert a strike would be to heed to the demands of the workers, but this cannot and should not be done at the expense of the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Scholtz said employers need to be cognisant of the increasing cost of living, especially when salaries do not keep up with inflation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means that dollar for dollar employees are actually receiving less money and have less expendable income available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this in mind, we need to be mindful of the fact that the government is also feeling the brunt of these increases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

STRIKE HISTORY<\/p>\n

The planned strike would be the first civil servant strike since teachers opted for industrial action in 2012 and 2016.<\/p>\n

A national teachers’ strike lasted almost two weeks, from 29 October until 8 November, in 2012.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Nantu called for a nationwide strike, which 95% of their members supported, after the government refused them an 8% salary increase.<\/p>\n

The government, however, gave the teachers an increment of 5% for the 2016\/17 year, while it was increased by 9% in the 2017\/18 financial year.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. MERCY KARUUOMBE, DONALD MATTHYS, and SHELLEYGAN PETERSEN HEALTHCARE providers are not allowed to take part in the planned civil servants strike, the executive director of health and social services, Ben Nangombe, has warned. He yesterday said according to law, healthcare providers are not allowed to take part in any industrial action, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":26689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-26691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nHealthcare workers may not strike \u2013 Nangombe - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MERCY KARUUOMBE, DONALD MATTHYS, and SHELLEYGAN PETERSEN HEALTHCARE providers are not allowed to take part in the plann ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Healthcare workers may not strike \u2013 Nangombe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MERCY KARUUOMBE, DONALD MATTHYS, and SHELLEYGAN PETERSEN HEALTHCARE providers are not allowed to take part in the plann ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-02T15:57:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-02T16:35:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_15.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Healthcare workers may not strike \u2013 Nangombe\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-02T15:57:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-02T16:35:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe\"},\"wordCount\":852,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_15.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/healthcare-workers-may-not-strike-nangombe\",\"name\":\"Healthcare workers may not strike \u2013 Nangombe - 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