Following the dismissal of close to 200 workers working for Cash and Carry, the community of Rundu plans to stage a peaceful demonstration today to demand the company reinstate the fired personnel with immediate effect.
In December 2022, a group of employees decided to demonstrate against their employer – the Cash and Carry group of companies in Rundu for alleged unfair treatment and low salaries.
The action resulted in the company dismissing close to 200 young workers in the town for engaging in an illegal strike.
Following the workers’ complaints, the community, including the All People’s Party (APP) came on board to listen to the plight of aggrieved workers.
APP secretary general Vincent Kanyetu this week confirmed the matter, saying the party decided to intervene as a community to come to the rescue of workers.
“We looked at both sides and we realised both parties violated the law in one way or the other. We decided to appoint a member to be a labour consultant to represent the dismissed workers. We started asking the company why they were fired and if there is a disciplinary committee established in accordance with the law. The workers are saying they do not have employment contracts. They were only told to sign but they were not given copies. This is not good. The law prohibits that because workers should have contracts to know their remuneration, working conditions, and leave days,” Kanyetu noted.
The community threatened, failure to adhere to the community and workers’ demands on Thursday, they will block all Cash and Carry shops so people will not buy their goods until the case is resolved.
Kanyetu said if the workers did not comply with company policies or labour law, they must establish a disciplinary committee of which the chairperson must be known.
Equally, APP demanded the N$1 200 monthly salary must be increased.
The workers complained that their supervisors at Cash and Carry hurl insults at them.
“If you look in Rundu, Cash and Carry has about six shops. This means there is a big support from Rundu so they can’t pay people peanuts. They must also apologise to workers for the bad language they are using towards them here,” Kanyetu said.
The workers discovered there is a labour hire company that started recruiting other workers to replace them while their case is not resolved.
They work for 13 hours a day but at the end of the month, they earn N$1 200, which they say is too little compared to the cost of living.
“For instance, if a lady wants to use the toilet and is in need of toilet paper, they are told to use their sanitary pads. This is an insult because the workplace should provide toilet paper. If the supervisor finds that you have not finished cleaning your shelves, they deduct whatever amount they feel and that affects the monthly salary,” complained an employee who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.