Zorena Jantze
SOME residents of the small southern town of Rehoboth are facing a lack of access to critical services such as water and electricity, with the Town Councils Workers striking for a third day consecutively.
When the informanté arrived on the scene on Friday morning, the town council employees set underneath trees playing dominoes or having conversations, with some residents who sought to buy water being turned away as the workers have downed tools indefinitely.
According to Lesley Mosegedi, a unionist from the Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU), some residents have even tried getting violent with the workers, as they attempted to access these critical services. Lesley further added that the employees remained undeterred as the strike is lawfully and legally protected.
“The strike we are embarking on is about salary increments for the 2021/2022 financial year. The two parties started engaging on the issue last year in May. There was a principle agreement reached between the two parties which was a 6.5% for the A band, 5% for B band a 3.5% for the C band. In November 2021, the council informed us that the minister had disapproved the principle agreement,” Mosegedi explained.
In May, the two parties reached a deadlock on the issue with the labour commissioner, and this is according to Mosegedi, adding that NAPWU however sought to bring a settlement proposal of a 4% increment across the board before the deadlock had been reached.
“The CEO of the Rehoboth town council has however refused to sign the agreement, as the minister has disapproved these increments. All the employees of the town council are under this strike. The services are not there since Tuesday. Water and Electricity services have been cut. One can not even get a building plan approved right now,” Mosegedi said.
He concluded that the governments’ directive stating that there will be no salary increment for civil servants is not relevant in this case, as the matter has been dragging on from last year.
