Maria David
THE Namibia Local Business Association (NALOBA) has urged government to try by all means and avoid the national strike by civil servants.
This is according to NALOBA vice-president Peter Amadhila during a press briefing held on Monday at Ongwediva.
This comes after a total of 42 216 civil servants voted in favour of a strike during the two-day voting process last week, while 1 232 voted against it.
This represents less than 50% of the civil servants workforce which includes over 100 000 workers.
The civil servants have been demanding a 12% salary increment since 2016, which has not been fruitful until date.
Amadhila stated that the proposed possible striking by all public servants during this hardest time of the country’s economy will have devastating consequences which will take Namibia and it’s citizens a very long time to recover.
“Schools, hospitals and many government institutions will be highly affected. Government revenues and business will be severely affected,” he said.
Amadhila emphasised that government should at all means avoid the proposed strike going forward, as the proposed strike is a scary movement and turmoil.
NALOBA then advised the government to give back 10% of the Tax threshold or potion to every civil servant resulting on an increase on their salaries on an interim basis until the economy has stabilised.
Further, NALOBA urged all civil servants to remain calm and not strike while they submit their requests to the office of the president.
