Factory and union agree on three-year deal
An agreement between a fish processing factory and a union will enhance stability and improve conditions for both temporal and permanent employees.
03 December 2019 | Fishing
Deep Ocean Processors and the Namibia Seamen and Allied Workers Union (NASAWU) successfully concluded a three-year conditions of employment agreement for all factory staff in Walvis Bay.
The agreement between the Walvis Bay based industrial fishing company and the union for the period from 2019, 2020 to 2021 was reached earlier this month.
It includes an average 8.1% total increase for each of the next three years.
“This is actually more than half of the current Namibian inflation rate of 3.0%. It took a while for us to reach consensus. We were supposed to implement this in May already. Negotiations finally showed progress in September after many delays. The agreement we reached creates pace and brings stability,” said Deep Ocean Processors Novanam managing director Edwin Kamatoto.
In terms of basic rate, an increase of 6.4% per annum across the board was awarded for the bargaining unit.
A total of 18 people will be signing permanent contracts of employment with the company.
Permanent employed staff will receive an average of 11.5% per year towards housing allowances for all with an average of 21.5% per year awarded for temporary employees.
“We are trying to close the gap between permanent and temporarily employed employees. The permanent employees historically received a much higher rate,” explained Kamatoto.
“There are also additional bonus days included for all temporary employees in the bargaining unit over a period of three years. This was done to bring the bonus days’ terms for both permanent and temporarily employed employees to the same level,” added Kamatoto.
Deep Ocean Processors is a value-added plant of NovaNam and Lalandii, which exclusively works with freezer products and the packaging of Pescanova brand products.
Novanam currently employs 2 434 people in Namibia of whom 403 are employed in Walvis Bay.
The agreement between the Walvis Bay based industrial fishing company and the union for the period from 2019, 2020 to 2021 was reached earlier this month.
It includes an average 8.1% total increase for each of the next three years.
“This is actually more than half of the current Namibian inflation rate of 3.0%. It took a while for us to reach consensus. We were supposed to implement this in May already. Negotiations finally showed progress in September after many delays. The agreement we reached creates pace and brings stability,” said Deep Ocean Processors Novanam managing director Edwin Kamatoto.
In terms of basic rate, an increase of 6.4% per annum across the board was awarded for the bargaining unit.
A total of 18 people will be signing permanent contracts of employment with the company.
Permanent employed staff will receive an average of 11.5% per year towards housing allowances for all with an average of 21.5% per year awarded for temporary employees.
“We are trying to close the gap between permanent and temporarily employed employees. The permanent employees historically received a much higher rate,” explained Kamatoto.
“There are also additional bonus days included for all temporary employees in the bargaining unit over a period of three years. This was done to bring the bonus days’ terms for both permanent and temporarily employed employees to the same level,” added Kamatoto.
Deep Ocean Processors is a value-added plant of NovaNam and Lalandii, which exclusively works with freezer products and the packaging of Pescanova brand products.
Novanam currently employs 2 434 people in Namibia of whom 403 are employed in Walvis Bay.
Classifieds