Fishermen claim 200 hours overtime

The office of the Labour Commissioner at Walvis Bay last week advised two fishermen Sam Frans and Abisai Katula not to lodge a dispute with Marco Fishing over unpaid overtime, but to instead wait until 5 August for the money to be paid out as the company has undertaken to do.

Frans and Katula were supposed to have appeared before a disciplinary hearing last week Thursday on a charge that they have on 5 and 6 June refused to perform lawfully assigned duties.

The workers said they had a right to withhold their labour until conditions on the vessel are safe and healthy.

The fishermen are claiming over 200 hours of overtime, which they claim to have worked from 26 May to 23 June while at sea.

They claim that the skipper has “forced” them to work 21 hours a day over the 21 days despite a signed single voyage contract that stipulates 11 hours normal working hours and three hours overtime while at sea.

The contract further stipulates that workers are entitled to a rest period of eight hours in every 24 hour cycle while at sea.

A recent amendment to the Labour Act of 2007 stipulates that fishermen shall not work more than nine hours and not more than five hours overtime per day.

“We want our government to take serious note of these cases and to take tangible steps against companies that are not complying with the country's labour laws. These are the reasons why fishermen are on strike but such transgressions are still continuing,” said chairperson of the United Fishermen of Namibia, Mathew Lungameni, said.

Lungameni last month said working conditions for fishermen have not improved since the amendment of the Labour Law late last year, claiming that workers were forced to work under worsening health standards.

He also claimed that scab workers replacing the striking fishermen are forced to work 21 to 36 consecutive hours per shift.



CATHERINE SASMAN