WINDHOEK – About 140 Air Namibia cabin crew are set to hold a peaceful demonstration at the office of the labour commissioner today, Namibian Cabin Crew Union (NCCU) president Reginald Kock announced yesterday.
Kock said the union would express its dissatisfaction with the manner the labour commissioner was handling their grievances.
“The labour commissioner has declared war against us but we are ready for that,” said the unionist.
However, Labour Commissioner Bro-Mathew Shinguadja urged the union to refrain from the demonstration.
“I will not be available to accept your petition,” said Shinguadja in a letter delivered to the union.
According to Kock, the main bone of contention is the grading of cabin crew salaries, which was re-graded when Air Namibia moved from the Peromnes Job Grading System to the Patterson Job Grading System in 2009/10.
Kock said the regraded salaries are “way below” other cabin crew salaries in the region.
“Air Namibia did not compare our cabin crew salaries with those of similar positions in the industry. Instead they compared it to the salaries of clerks,” explained Kock.
The NCCU president emphasized that cabin crew have a tremendous “safety aspect” to their jobs and hence the airline should “compare apples with apples”.
“What they have done is they have compared us with clerks from the City of Windhoek and our issue is the weight of the job is much bigger than that of office workers,” he said.
According to Kock an independent human resources consultant from South Africa was called in June to review the grading exercise at Air Namibia and concluded that the crews were underpaid.
In May the NCCU initiated a strike which was later suspended after a meeting with the Air Namibia management.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Air Namibia’s corporate communications officer, Paul Nakawa, said the irresponsibility of the union has cost Air Namibia millions of dollars in lost revenue however the airline opts to respect their rights in partaking in such an activity.
“Cabin crew earn between N$15 300 and N$32 000 a month, excluding an average of N$10 000 S&T per month,” he stressed.
“Many people in Namibia with degrees do not even earn that much,” he added.
Nakawa said most cabin crew have Grade 12 or lower.