Gendev, union agree on wages
The Gendev Fishing Group and the Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union signed a wage agreement in Walvis Bay on Thursday.
The agreement seeks to ensure that all existing Gendev employees within the bargaining unit do not earn less than N$20 per hour by May 2018.
Employees in the bargaining unit in grade levels A1 – B2 will receive increases between 8% and 11.20% for the first year dated May 2016 to April 2017 and for the second year from May 2017 to April 2018 increases between 8% and 10.08%.
Gendev CEO Volker Paulsmeier commented that negotiations went well and both parties were respectful and negotiated in good faith. He hailed the fact that the parties settled for an eight percent average for two years (2016-2018) as a major achievement. Additional benefits covered by the agreement include housing and transport allowances.
NAFAU branch organiser Reinhold Hamukwaya welcomed the agreement and said it would benefit more than 700 land-based workers.
He requested the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Bernard Esau to compensate companies that alleviate unemployment when it comes to quota allocation.
Hamukwaya called on companies exporting raw fish to create land-based employment for more Namibians. He also warned workers in the industry to be wary of new unions “aiming to mislead them and wanting to destabilise the fishing industry”.
OTIS FINCK
The agreement seeks to ensure that all existing Gendev employees within the bargaining unit do not earn less than N$20 per hour by May 2018.
Employees in the bargaining unit in grade levels A1 – B2 will receive increases between 8% and 11.20% for the first year dated May 2016 to April 2017 and for the second year from May 2017 to April 2018 increases between 8% and 10.08%.
Gendev CEO Volker Paulsmeier commented that negotiations went well and both parties were respectful and negotiated in good faith. He hailed the fact that the parties settled for an eight percent average for two years (2016-2018) as a major achievement. Additional benefits covered by the agreement include housing and transport allowances.
NAFAU branch organiser Reinhold Hamukwaya welcomed the agreement and said it would benefit more than 700 land-based workers.
He requested the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Bernard Esau to compensate companies that alleviate unemployment when it comes to quota allocation.
Hamukwaya called on companies exporting raw fish to create land-based employment for more Namibians. He also warned workers in the industry to be wary of new unions “aiming to mislead them and wanting to destabilise the fishing industry”.
OTIS FINCK
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