OSHAKATI/WINDHOEK – Over 100 employees of the Foschini retail chain countrywide went on a strike over the weekend citing poor salaries and being overloaded with work. “Foschini contractors are using a colonial type mentality, the managers of Markhams, Fashion Express and Total Sports think they are gods on earth and that rules do not apply to them. They are pressurising employees to accept an offer that was rejected by all employees in the presence of Paul Banard the Director of Remuneration of Foschini Group who was sent from South Africa,” said Victor Hamunyela, the general secretary of the Namibia Wholesale and Retail Workers Union (NWRWU).
Laina Mushungule a shop steward at Foschini in Oshakati said employees decided to strike after the workers’ union and company management reached a deadlock in negotiations for better wages. Foschini employees in Windhoek declined to talk to New Era saying they have been forbidden to talk to the media.
Hamunyela informed New Era in Windhoek that wage negotiations have been ongoing since April this year and the union was in discussions with the labour commissioner on the issue as well. “Unfortunately the offer they [the company] made was unacceptable and the strike which began Saturday is a legal one,” said Hamunyela.
Employees are demanding a N$480 salary increment but the company is only prepared to offer N$305. Hamunyela said the initial proposition was a N$290 increase across the board and a N$320 housing allowance for contractors. “We reminded them that the majority of employees, close to 90 per cent, don’t have houses and have to rent or depend on their parents for housing,” said Hamunyela.
“We are understaffed, and as a result one person does the work of three people because the company hardly replaces employees who resigned. And if they employ a new person, we are faced with the responsibility of training new staff, while at the same time doing the work of a person or two people who resigned and we do not get paid for that,” said shop steward Mushungule.
According to Mushungule, after the company failed to meet the workers’ demands, at least 147 staffers of 169 from the group’s businesses such as Foschini, American Swiss, Sport Scene, Total Sport, Exact and Markham, among others decided to go on strike.
On Sunday when New Era visited some of the shops a few workers were still inside the shops, while the majority was outside, accompanied by union representatives. Some union officials also stood in front of the shops that were open, blocking customers from entering. Mushungule said it was surprising how certain employees opted to continue workingwhile every worker at the Oshakati shops had voted for the strike.
NWRWU representative in Oshakati Jerobeam Ndamohamba said workers would stay away from work until their demands are met. “The N$305 which they are offering is peanuts and we feel that it is an insult to workers,” said Ndamohamba.
The union and the company failed to reach an agreement in July this year, and the union obtained a certificate of dispute on behalf of the workers, which allowed them to strike. “Therefore, this is a lawful strike and the workers are not going to back to work until their demands are met,” he said.
When employees are on a lawful strike a company is not allowed to employ new workers, according to Hamunyela, alleging Foschini have brought in “scab workers or flexi-timers”.
The NWRWU is also going to tackle the issue of the three area managers. “We feel they are swimming in a pool of wealth created by the very people they want to bully into accepting peanuts. Our people work hard to sustain the extravagant lifestyles of these managers and they want to repay them by offering a mere N$305 salary increase which is not even enough for taxi fare in Namibia, while they have expensive cellphones, car allowances and travel on company fuel,” exclaimed a disgruntled Hamunyela.
The NWRWU general secretary questioned the loyalty of the Foschini Group towards their employees. “For so long we have been understaffed doing work intended for more than five people and what they say is a lack of money is the reason. What is ironic is that they are now employing new people after having claimed not to have money to even better the wage proposal of long time employees. How do they justify paying the wages of these flexi-timers who are doing the work on behalf of striking employees?” queried Hamunyela.
By John Travolter Matali and Helvy Shaanika