State must forego wait-andsee approach

Some form of Government intervention in the ongoing strike of TransNamib workers will be highly favoured to end the standoff. The strike goes into its ninth day and there appears to be no definite solution to end the grievances of the workers. Although a court order was obtained by the company’s management for the workers to return to work, the two parties are still at loggerheads, with workers in Walvis Bay, Windhoek, Otjiwarongo and Keetmanshoop offices still refusing to return to work. The Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) in particular, is unhappy with the manner in which the TransNamib board and management has handled the written queries of the workers regarding unfair salary allocations. Natau’s Secretary General John Kwedhi has also been fuming at the TransNamib bosses whom he accused of messing up at the parastatal by covering up on the new salary structure that has resulted in the current labour dispute. Lest we forget, the TransNamib strike has grave consequences on the country’s economy and there have already been indications that the strike could lead to a shortage of fuel across the country.

The bulk of Namibia’s fuel is transported from the harbour town by the parastatal and fuel shortages could be experienced country-wide soon. The situation is so severe that over 13 million litres of fuel intended for distribution across the country could not reach its destination due to the strike. “If the strike continues it will have devastating consequences for the distribution of fuel country-wide and it would be impossible to supply all towns with sufficient diesel and petrol with only road transport,” the Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat of the Namibian Oil Industry Association, Harald Schmidt warned on Tuesday. The impact of the strike is also likely to hit the air transportation industry, particularly Air Namibia who could struggle with jet fuel if nothing is done to bring the dispute to an end. There is no doubt that the strike is impacting heavily on the economy and that is why the Government needs to stop its wait-and-see approach on the matter. Government did it with Namdeb last year and we believe there should be continued efforts to thwart any chance of a longer TransNamib strike. And the time to act is now.