Workers stage wildcat strike

Angry construction workers staged a wildcat strike for a few hours last week at Okambebe in Ohangwena Region last week, attracting the immediate intervention of the police and officials from the Ministry of Labour. The issues were later amicably resolved. The workers’ discontent centred around what they described as unfair labour practices by their employer, the China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, which is contracted to upgrade the Omafo-Outapi road to the bitumen standard. The workers’ grievances include alleged unfair dismissals, delayed payment of wages, disregard of the minimum wage for the construction industry and workers living under inhuman conditions. Days of negotiations failed to come up with a solution and the workers staged an illegal strike last Wednesday morning, locking the gates to the Okambebe site. The gates were only reopened after police intervention and the management’s promise to meet representatives of the Namibia Building Workers Union (NABWU). “We are not paid on time and some of us have started working without signing contracts, a fact that leaves us vulnerable to unfair dismissal and underpayment. People who were recruited as truck drivers or operators of earth moving machines are now employed and paid as ordinary labourers because their job is being done by Chinese nationals,” the workers said. The workers also complained about the unhygienic conditions they live in. They live in small tents in the bush outside the construction site where a sewage pond is also located. “The place is not fenced off. Pigs and other animals walk around freely and damage our properties while we are at work. The bush is also snake-infested,” the workers complained. But what seemed to have really enraged the workers is the sewage pond that is practically an integral part of their camping site. “This is a serious health hazard,” they said. After meeting the management - in the presence of labour officials - representatives of the NABWU said an amicable solution was found. This was echoed by the company spokesperson Xu Jeffrey, who said that every problem was solved. “The only problem that still remains is finding out who locked the gates. If we find the culprit we will deal with him/her in consultation with the police and the ministry of labour. Locking the gates of the construction site is totally unacceptable,” he said. “The gates were not locked by one person. It was a collective decision of the workers. We knew that that was illegal, but sometimes when you are suffering and your pleas are ignored, you may lose your patience and take the law into your own hands,” said a shop steward.