NBC accused of profiteering from 2021 strike
Deductions described as unfair, illegal by staff
Sources claim total salary deductions ranged between N$20 000 and N$50 000 for each employee over the course of six months.
Disgruntled Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) employees have accused their employer of profiteering from a controversial 2021 strike by deducting money from workers’ salaries.
The employees believe that a June 2022 arbitration award issued against them overlooked NBC’s misconduct to rule in their favour. Affected employees say they only stopped pursuing the matter because they lacked the financial means to properly represent themselves.
In 2021, at least 600 NBC employees went on a nationwide strike, demanding an 8% salary increment and that all workers on one-month contracts be employed on a full-time basis.
Unfair deductions
In a document seen by Namibian Sun, which was submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman by staff, they claim that deductions made by NBC in May during the strike were unfair because some employees were left with only N$100, N$300 or N$1 000 after deductions, while others had their full salaries deducted and some still received their full salaries. That same month, they signed an agreement to end the one-month strike.
In June 2021, NBC issued a notice stating that strike deductions would continue until November. However, according to the employees, these deductions affected all employees, including those who had previously had their full salaries deducted.
“When my full salary was deducted in May, I believed I had settled my dues for the strike. However, to my dismay, deductions totalling over N$3 000 continued from my account for six months without explanation. This isn’t fair and exceeds the one-third limit stipulated in Section 12(2) of the Labour Act," said one of the concerned employees who approached Namibian Sun about the issue.
The total deductions ranged between N$20 000 and N$50 000 for each employee over the six months, according to sources.
Punishment
Staff further accused NBC of instigating backlash, alleging that the company is punishing them for participating in a protected strike by not reinstating the Notch, stopping salary advances and implementing total cost to company by force.
“We are being punished for participating in a protected strike, yet everyone is watching including, the government. We are helpless in the sight of management in terms of power. They can take decisions that we cannot take. They control our finances and we don't,” staff allege in the document.
These actions, they allege, are a strategy deployed by NBC to manoeuvre around legal channels by attributing its actions to financial difficulties.
"Yes, it's easy for a judge to believe 'financial challenges', especially in the era of Covid-19. In our case, it is all punishment for biting the hand that feeds you," employees wrote.
No response
According to them, their petition to the Ombudsman’s office fell on deaf ears. A probe directed to the Omudsman’s office into the matter by Namibian Sun revealed that they also engaged NBC but to no avail.
Questions to the NBC board chairperson Lazarus Jacobs about the status quo were not answered.
The employees are demanding that NBC pay back the money they claim was illegally deducted from striking employees in the name of the “no work, no pay” rule, which employees accuse NBC of having failed to implement correctly, reinstate the Notch increment and pay backdated Notch owed to employees or bail out every employee entitled to it.
Additionally, they urge verification of strike deduction by the court and the arbitration award of the Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) vs NBC over illegal deductions to be reviewed by a court.
The employees believe that a June 2022 arbitration award issued against them overlooked NBC’s misconduct to rule in their favour. Affected employees say they only stopped pursuing the matter because they lacked the financial means to properly represent themselves.
In 2021, at least 600 NBC employees went on a nationwide strike, demanding an 8% salary increment and that all workers on one-month contracts be employed on a full-time basis.
Unfair deductions
In a document seen by Namibian Sun, which was submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman by staff, they claim that deductions made by NBC in May during the strike were unfair because some employees were left with only N$100, N$300 or N$1 000 after deductions, while others had their full salaries deducted and some still received their full salaries. That same month, they signed an agreement to end the one-month strike.
In June 2021, NBC issued a notice stating that strike deductions would continue until November. However, according to the employees, these deductions affected all employees, including those who had previously had their full salaries deducted.
“When my full salary was deducted in May, I believed I had settled my dues for the strike. However, to my dismay, deductions totalling over N$3 000 continued from my account for six months without explanation. This isn’t fair and exceeds the one-third limit stipulated in Section 12(2) of the Labour Act," said one of the concerned employees who approached Namibian Sun about the issue.
The total deductions ranged between N$20 000 and N$50 000 for each employee over the six months, according to sources.
Punishment
Staff further accused NBC of instigating backlash, alleging that the company is punishing them for participating in a protected strike by not reinstating the Notch, stopping salary advances and implementing total cost to company by force.
“We are being punished for participating in a protected strike, yet everyone is watching including, the government. We are helpless in the sight of management in terms of power. They can take decisions that we cannot take. They control our finances and we don't,” staff allege in the document.
These actions, they allege, are a strategy deployed by NBC to manoeuvre around legal channels by attributing its actions to financial difficulties.
"Yes, it's easy for a judge to believe 'financial challenges', especially in the era of Covid-19. In our case, it is all punishment for biting the hand that feeds you," employees wrote.
No response
According to them, their petition to the Ombudsman’s office fell on deaf ears. A probe directed to the Omudsman’s office into the matter by Namibian Sun revealed that they also engaged NBC but to no avail.
Questions to the NBC board chairperson Lazarus Jacobs about the status quo were not answered.
The employees are demanding that NBC pay back the money they claim was illegally deducted from striking employees in the name of the “no work, no pay” rule, which employees accuse NBC of having failed to implement correctly, reinstate the Notch increment and pay backdated Notch owed to employees or bail out every employee entitled to it.
Additionally, they urge verification of strike deduction by the court and the arbitration award of the Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) vs NBC over illegal deductions to be reviewed by a court.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article