By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
WINDHOEK – The strike in the petrol industry continued into its fourth day yesterday but the Association of Service Station Owners (ASSO) chairperson Rupert Harmse is adamant the strike is illegal as ASSO does not recognize Nafawu as an exclusive bargaining unit.
Nafawu is the acronym for the Namibia Food and Allied Workers’ Union that represents workers in retail and other allied industries.
“Nafawu has failed to provide conclusive proof that it represents the majority of employees in this bargaining unit,” Harmse said in a statement on Tuesday.
But Nafawu claims to have close to 1 000 workers on its books, of whom 358 are workers at 17 gas station in the north, 463 workers in Erongo Region and 113 workers in the southern regions.
Neither the union nor the association could give the total number of service station workers in the country.
ASSO also says it will only engage in negotiations for a minimum wage if the Ministry of Mines and Energy takes part in negotiations.
However, the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s chief public relations officer Ten Hasheela yesterday said “it is not the ministry’s duty to decide and regulate/determine how workers should be remunerated.”
“The duty of the ministry is to ensure that service station owners do not operate at a loss annually and this is done through the dealer margin,” said Hasheela, adding the ministry is dedicated to ensure there is fuel available at any given time of the year.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, when contacted for comment, said it was not at liberty to address the issue but a press statement would be issued soon. “The ministry is preparing a press statement regarding the whole scenario,” said the ministry’s spokesperson Paulus Ashipala.
Harmse said that at a meeting held on 30 May at the labour ministry, the ministry requested both ASSO and Nafawu to investigate labour union representation levels.
He further said that on 9 July at the same venue where ASSO and Nafawu were again present, ASSO provided the ministry with the results of a survey conducted in June.
He added that the survey showed that Nafawu, as one of seven unions representing members in the industry, only seemed to have a representation of 14 percent.
He said that to date ASSO had not been notified by the ministry nor the Labour Commissioner of any formal dispute lodged by Nafawu, as is required by law.
Had the dispute first been referred to the labour commissioner for conciliation, only then will Nafawu have been able to launch a strike or lockout action, he said.
“The reason being that our industry is a controlled one – that sets this industry apart from any other industry where minimum wages have been negotiated and introduced as a result thereof,” Harmse said in a statement.
However, Nafawu secretary general David Frans said the strike would continue until their demand for better wages is fullfilled.
“All we want is the industry to be regulated, how can we have an unregulated industry,” Frans told New Era.
“I am hearing that they (ASSO) have started replacing some workers, but we workers will fight for our rights,” he added.