Fishermen soldier on

The protracted stay-away by 1 200 fishermen is having adverse impact on their families and businesses in Walvis Bay.
“I am the only breadwinner these days. We are starving and only surviving by the grace of God. We don’t eat regular meals anymore and all our accounts are in arrears,” a domestic worker and wife of a striking fisherman told Namibian Sun.
According to Mining, Metal, Maritime and Construction (MMMC) Union regional organiser, Immanuel Petrus, more than 10 000 people are directly affected by the on-going strike now in its ninth month and which started in 2015. The situation and living standard of those involved is worsening daily.
“It’s going very badly and everybody involved, including children and wives are suffering and starving. From tuck shops to banking institutions in Walvis Bay they are feeling the pinch. Some of our members have loans. They did not earn any income for some time now. How do you expect them to put food on the table and honour payment of their accounts?”
Petrus is calling on the permanent secretary for fisheries and marine resources Dr Moses Maurihungirire, and companies to engage the fishermen so that an immediate solution is found to resolve the impasse.
He reiterated that the fishermen will continue with their stay- away until their working conditions improve and companies which are guilty comply with the law.
It is alleged some striking fishermen became so desperate that they recruited family members to get jobs at the factories in exchange for kickbacks.
Companies are also alleged to have approached some workers and lured them back with promises of money and contracts. After scrutinising the contracts it apparently emerged that the money being offered are actually loans. Some workers have accepted the offers, returned to work and signed contracts, out of desperation they say, and received N$4 000 of which N$3 000 has to be repaid over a period of three months.
“We struck new deals with a number of companies for approximately 600 of our members who have returned to work. The rest are still stranded. The Harambee Prosperity Plan must come into effect. It should not only be a vision but must be an action which also affects the lives of fishermen who are being excluded,” Petrus said.
Walvis Bay municipality spokesperson Kevin Adams said it would take a while to determine the exact impact of the fishermen’s strike on municipal coffers saying it would mean analysing each account holder’s history over a certain period.
“Suffice it to say though that any prolonged period of non-payment by a fairly large group of people would have an impact on the local authority’s finances. We have seen this trend in cases when the economy in general has not been performing well, especially during a decline in the fishing industry.”
Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) Walvis Bay chair Johnny Doeseb called for an amicable solution and encouraged its member companies to engage unions. He said the on-going action by fishermen is impacting the economy negatively.
“Strikes do not solve issues. The time and the money lost cannot be recouped. The value chain is long and 90 % of the Walvis Bay economy relies on the fishing industry. There are external markets involved in the industry and shortages in supply can result in companies not being able to honour contracts and eventually being labelled unreliable suppliers.
“No income means no paying of bills and this can lead to social evils. Businesses are stagnating. Taxi drivers, tuck shops and kapana sellers for example do not have customers and have to make do with significantly reduced income,” Doeseb lamented.
The fishermen say they want to set the record straight and pointed out that the strike, which started off as an illegal action, was subsequently changed to a withdrawal.
The fishermen say companies are aware of the harsh realities they endure at sea and these circumstances forced them to initiate the illegal action.
According to them, President Hage Geingob publicly declared that slave-like conditions prevailing in the industry are not acceptable yet factories expect them to return to the very same conditions which caused them to cease working.
“They simply offered us less money in exchange for improved working conditions on vessels. We stopped working to draw attention to our issues and effect long-overdue changes and in doing so most of us were eventually fired,” the redundant fishermen whined.
The fishermen further allege that huge disparities exist between the Namibian fishing industry and that of the rest of the world.
“Our shop stewards on numerous occasions and on a yearly basis requested companies to meet us halfway but to no avail. Our situation remains as it was and yet they keep on buying vessels and expanding factories. We are constantly told that there is no money when negotiating. Our bosses for example, drive around in brand-new Land Cruisers valued at N$1.4 million each and can afford monthly instalments of N$15 000. Yet they keep giving us excuses when it comes to improving our living conditions and that of our families.”
According to the fishermen, they earn an average salary of N$7 000 per month or less, saying it is ridiculous to expect them to support their families with this meagre wage which is in stark contrast with what managers earn.
“We just want to be treated fairly, earn enough to be able to afford medical aid, a pension scheme and retirement policies, and ensure a decent education for our children and basic humane living conditions for our families. We secure the product (fish) in life-threatening conditions and ensure that income is generated, yet we are not recognised and fairly compensated for our efforts. This is injustice. Wet fish crews consisting about 25 members produce between 2 500 and 3 600 bins of frozen fish in five- to eight-day trips. When the fish lands approximately 300 persons process it per shift,” they said.


OTIS FINCK