By Mbatjiua Ngavirue WINDHOEK Former employees retrenched by the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) at the beginning of September feel betrayed by the company, feeling it has treated them exceptionally harshly. Employees say that when newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Vincent Hailulu first proposed the idea of restructuring the company, he gave employees repeated assurances that there would be no job losses. In July last year, NHE employees say they entered into negotiations with the company for a wage increase. Workers however allege that before the parties concluded the negotiations, NHE on August 31 last year abruptly informed them it was terminating their employment as from September 1, 2006. They claim that NHE also told them that the company would negotiate retrenchment packages at a later stage. The former NHE employees expected the two parties to negotiate the termination and that they would receive fair compensation. What happened instead, they say, amounted to summary dismissal. NHE has so far dismissed 39 employees, eight of whom were at management level while 31 were ordinary employees. Among the 31 ordinary employees, most have worked at the NHE for 20 or more years and were looking forward to a comfortable and secure retirement in a few years’ time. Many in the group of 31 are middle-aged people who say they would have been happy to take early retirement if NHE had been prepared to negotiate a fair settlement that would allow them to retire with dignity. Instead, they feel NHE kicked them out on their backsides, without so much as a thank you for their many years of service. The reasons given for their dismissal were that many of the 31 lacked the necessary qualifications, they were not suitable for the posts or the posts had become redundant. The company seemingly also felt it was overpaying those that had the required qualifications for the work they were performing. There is truth in the NHE claim as far as qualifications are concerned, because of the 31, apparently only one has a matriculation certificate. They, of course, feel they have many years of hard-earned practical work experience to make up for the lack of formal qualifications. The tragedy is that these employees could be regarded as victims of the pre-independence apartheid system that deprived people of the opportunity to acquire a proper education. NHE clearly wants to replace these employees with bright young people of the post-independence generation armed with BA’s, MA’s and MBA’s. This seems to make them double victims! Having been victimised by apartheid they are now being victimised again by young executives who have enjoyed all the fruits of independence. The post-independence generation has benefited from fully paid government scholarships at both local and international institutions of higher learning. Some have been double beneficiaries, receiving bursaries for both their first and second degrees. Now that the government has educated a whole new generation of young people, it is only natural for them to expect to be accommodated in the job market. This seems to be part of a social transformation the country is experiencing, but few seem to have given any thought to how to handle this phenomenon humanely. The NHE employees say they have no problem making way for a younger generation, but they feel they deserve to be treated with some degree of human decency. In the past large Namibian private companies and parastatals were always prepared to negotiate fair retrenchment packages – usually substantially above the minimum requirements of the Labour Act. The NHE employees were shocked to find out that Hailulu was only offering them the bare minimum required by the Labour Act – one week’s pay for every year served. In practice, this meant retrenchment packages varying between N$30 000, N$64 000 and N$69 000, which were unilaterally paid into their bank accounts without any consultation. Some of the former NHE employees have outstanding housing mortgages of N$200 000, they have water and electricity bills to pay and there are insurance policies as well. One even has two children at university who are depending on their father to pay their tuition and living expenses. After almost four months, most of them have exhausted the meagre severance pay the NHE gave them. NHE has apparently improved its latest offer to two weeks’ pay for every year served, which is slightly more generous, but still insufficient according the former employees. In similar circumstances, other companies have allowed employees to take early retirement whereby they keep their full pension benefits, some of their housing allowance and remain on the medical aid scheme. NHE Chief Executive Vincent Hailulu when approached Friday was initially prepared to comment on the dispute at the NHE. He however yesterday declined to have his comments published, saying the corporation would issue a statement later in the week.