Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) recently signed a substantive wage agreement for the 2024 financial year.
As part of the new agreement, there is an overall increase of 7.5% on basic salaries for NBL employees. The agreement is for all bargaining unit employees and applicable for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 and 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2024 respectively.
The company will continue with the current incentive scheme that will enable employees in the bargaining unit to earn an additional bonus equal to a monthly salary during the financial year.
Signing the agreement, Nafau’s regional coordinator, Simon Muukapo expressed his appreciation to the NBL negotiation team for adopting a transparent approach to finaliSe negotiations that ensured that the workers in the bargaining unit receive their salaries on time.
“As we all know, from a social point of view, everyone is affected by the rising cost of living. The workers are grateful for the increase they will receive and Nafau is proud to have facilitated these negotiations with the gallant shop stewards that made sure that the demands of the workers are met to ensure that they and co-workers get their increase on time. It is, therefore, a pleasure from Nafau to appreciate NBL management and this should also serve as a good example to other employers to emulate,” said Muukapo.
Managing Director of NBL, Peter Simons said: “My gratitude goes out to all the parties that were involved in the process which has resulted to ensure that all bargaining unit employees of NBL will receive their increases with this month end payroll. I would like to wholeheartedly thank the negotiation team from the union and the business, for the mutually beneficial consensus reached for the interest of our employees and the company.”
Simons concluded that the latest agreement paves the way for NBL to continue focusing on its business performance to further deliver on its mandate and annual business plan for the benefit of its shareholders, employees, customers, and consumers respectively.
International brewer, Heineken, recently completed the acquisition of NBL and Distell Namibia. The combined business which is still named NBL with its headquarters in Windhoek, will remain listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange. The integration of the businesses allows the local company to merge its strengths and resources to better serve its customers with a wider portfolio of brands as from 1 July 2023 onwards.