After a balloting process on Friday at all National Housing Enterprise (NHE) offices, more than 90% of staff voted in favour of a strike. 

This was confirmed by Public Service Union of Namibia secretary general Matheus Haakuria, who initiated the ballot process after a deadlock over wage negotiations. 

“We informed the Office of the Labour Commissioner, who would now be responsible to bring the parties together to finalise strike rules. Once this is finalised, the NHE management will be informed and given notice before the commencement of the strike,” he said in a media statement. 

“After counting the ballots, the voices of the NHE employees are loud and clear; enough is enough. We have informed the management structure of NHE, and at the same time invited management to engage us in the hope to collectively resolve the matter
before the total stoppage of the operations of NHE is initiated.”  

Meanwhile, NHE spokesperson
Tuafi Shafombabi confirmed the outcome and results of the balloting process. 

“The fact remains that the industrial action will negatively impact our operations and disrupt the normal scheduled services for the duration of this planned industrial action, of which the end-date is not known. In terms of Section 76 (1) of the Labour Act, 2007, NHE will invoke a no-work no-pay principle during the strike period. NHE will endeavour to work to resolve this matter with the urgency it rightfully deserves,” read a statement from Shafombabi. 

At a media briefing last week, Haakuria stressed that the deadlock was reached after the company failed to honour an agreement for a once-off payment to staff of N$15 000. This arrangement, he said, was initially agreed to as part of the approved budget for 2021/22. 

- ebrandt@nepc.com.na