NAMIBIA
COUNTRY REVIEW OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
2010
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING SUPPORT
FOR BUILDING TRADE UNION ORGANISATION
IN AFRICA
1
Table of contents
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
3
4
Section 1: Introduction and background
1. a. Methodology and challenges
1. b. Report outline
5
Section 2: The context of collective bargaining
2.1.1. The labour legislative frame work
2.1. 2. The Impact of the global financial crisis on the economy and labour
2.1. 3. Impact on the Namibian economy
2.1.4. Impact on labour
8
Section 3: The wage bargaining review for 2009
3.1. Minimum wages by trade union
3.2. Minimum wage by sector
19
Section 4: Conditions of service
4.1. Wages
4.2. Working hours
4.3. General conditions of employment
4.4. Job security
4.5. Gender and women’s issues
4.6. HIV/AIDS in collective bargaining
4.7. Skills training
27
Section 5: Conclusion and recommendations
34
6. Reference list
35
2
List of Tables
Table 1: Industrial classification
Table 2: Bargaining units per Trade unions
Table 3: Minimum wages by Trade unions
Table 4: Average minimum wages by Trade unions
Table 5: Wages
Table 6: Working hours and allowances
Table 7: General conditions of employment
Table 8: Security in employment
Table 9: Gender as part of collective bargaining
Table 10: HIV/AIDS and training in collective bargaining
List of figures
Figure 1: Average wage increase (%) by Trade unions
Figure 2: Average wage and real wage increases by trade unions
Figure 3: Minimum wages by sector
Figure 4: Average % increase by sector
Abbreviations
AWARD
BoN
FNV
GDP
LARRI
LRS
MANWU
MUN
NAFAU
NAFINU
NAFWU
NANTU
NAPWU
NATAU
NUNW
NLFS
SWAPO
VAT
Actual Wage Rate Database
Bank of Namibia
Netherlands Trade Union Federation
Gross Domestic Product
Labour Resource and Research Institute
Labour Research Services
Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union
Mine Workers Union
Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union
Namibia Financial Institutions Union
Namibia Farm Workers Union
Namibia National Teachers Union
Namibia Public Workers Union
Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union
National Union of Namibian Workers
Namibia Labour Force Survey
South West Africa People’s Organisation
Value Added Tax
3
Acknowledgements
A special word of appreciation is extended to our partner organisation the Labour Research
Services based in Cape Town, South Africa. We are particularly thankful to the director, Saliem
Patel and the deputy director Trenton Eisley. We are also thankful to FNV-Mondiaal for keeping
their promise to support LaRRI’s work albeit through LRS. We appreciate the cooperation of the
different trade unions that provided the information that constitute the content of this report.
Authorship: This report was principally authored by Maria Namukwambi. We appreciate the
commitment she showed to this work. Maria collected, entered and analysed the data. The
efforts she has put in producing this report cannot go unmentioned. The report was edited and
reorganised by Hilma Shindondola-Mote and Indongo Indongo.
Layout: Layout services were provided by Zilaoneka Kaduma of Zila designs.
4
1. Introduction and background
Namibia has been ranked as one of the countries with the largest income inequalities in the
world, and hence trade unions should see their role as that of fighting to narrow this through
collective bargainingi. According Clark (2002), incomes are determined by bargaining, and how
well you can bargain is determined by your initial position and the context of the bargaining
process (laws, regulations and customs). Clark (2002) further explained that in society, if you
belong to a strong union, or if your industry has considerable market power (few competitors) or
if you have the political clout to get the government to set the rules in your favor, or if you can
exclude others from competing against you and encourage them to compete against each other,
you will have significant power and can greatly determine your income. Collective bargaining
therefore refers ‘to the process that takes place between employer and employee representatives
in order to reach an agreement, with regards to the rights and duties of people at work’. This
process is embarked upon with the aim of reaching a collective agreement with regards to the
conditions of service for employees including wages.
Another important variable to be considered when talking about collective bargaining is
inflation. Inflation is generally defined as a sustained increase or decrease in the general levels of
prices for goods and services. It is measured as an annual percentage increase. As inflation rises,
every bit of money you have buys a smaller quantity of goods and services. This means, the
value of money that you have in a specific year or month will not always be able to buy you the
same value of goods and services. The annual quarterly inflation rate for 2008 until the middle of
2009 remained constant at 11.5 %. The annual average inflation rate however was calculated to
be 8.8% for the year 2009 (BON, annual report, 2009). Trade unions are often expected to
negotiate for wage increments that are above the inflation rate. This is because if inflation is not
considered as an important variable during the negotiation process, this means workers will not
necessarily be better off once the increment has been effected. Negotiating above the inflation
rate is therefore of outmost importance because inflation eats onto the purchasing power of the
5
workers. It is noteworthy that the majority of the trade unions covered in this report actually
negotiated for wages well beyond the annual inflation rate of 2009.
The purpose of this report is to firstly provide an analysis and a comparison of the different
wages negotiated during 2009 by several sectoral unions in the NUNW family. In addition, the
report provide an analysis of the wages agreed upon in the different economic sectors by taking
the 2009 inflation rate into consideration. This analysis has been carried out for two major
reasons: firstly, to identify the different trade unions that were able to negotiate for wages above
the inflation rate and how much they were able to bargain for, and secondly, to provide those
trade unions that were not successful in negotiating better wages for their members with some
key recommendations on how best they can bargain in future.
1 a. Methodology and challenges
The information used for this report was collected from the different wage agreements of the
different trade unions for the year 2009 only. These agreements do not only cover the different
wage agreements but also the different employment conditions under which the trade unions had
to bargain. The data was derived from 8 different affiliates of the National Union of Namibian
Workers (NUNW). The affiliates consist of: NAFAU, NAPWU, NANTU, MUN, MANWU,
NATAU, NAFWU and NAFINU. The different wage agreements were collected from the head
offices of the different trade unions all based in Windhoek. The total number of agreements
collected analysed was ninety-two (92). NAPWU and MUN were able to provide some
agreements from their regional offices.
Many of the agreements showed clear signs of shortcomings. These shortcomings impacted on
the quality of the data analysed. For instance, a large majority of the agreements were not clear
on exactly how many workers were covered under the specific agreement. It was therefore
difficult to include such information in the overall analysis. Many also lacked baseline
information data. For instance, it was not possible to tell how much the person was earning
before increment. The only information available was about how much the increment was. There
6
was also lack of information on what the wages were the previous year and hence the analysis
was limited to the percentage negotiated and not on the actual wage itself.
Many trade unions face administrative challenges. These include lack of staffing. Some of the
administrative departments of the unions were not sufficiently capacitated to store information
appropriately and hence many could not provide information upon request. Some of the unions
took longer to respond to our request because information was not always readily available. In
some instances, we were posted from post to pole in out attempts to find the right person to
attend to our informational needs. It is some these hurdles that contributed to the delay in the
release of this report.
1. b. Report outline
This report is divided into five major sections. Section one is the background as provided above,
Section two briefly outlines the context in which collective bargaining takes place in Namibia.
Particular focus is on how tripartite labour relations are structured in Namibia. This includes the
registration process of trade unions as well as the rights of trade unions. In Section three, the
report focuses on the wage bargaining review. This includes the minimum wages negotiated by
the different trade unions. It also includes the different wages agreed upon per sector. Section
four focuses on the conditions of employment negotiated for during the period under review.
The fifth section focuses on the conclusion and recommendations.
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Section 2: The context of collective bargaining
2.1. The labour legislative framework
Since independence, the Namibian government has enacted several legislations in favour of good
labour relations in Namibia. The current legislation covering labour in Namibia is the Labour
Act No 11 of 2007. This act became a law in December 2007 and replaced the Labour Act of
1992. The biggest changes between the two Labour Acts are the dispute resolution mechanism
and the banning of labour hire in Namibia. The 2007 Act abolished the district labour courts and
refers cases now to either conciliation or arbitration. This is aimed at saving time as court
proceedings usually took very long to resolve matters. The government initially banned labour
hire practices in the country but could not implement the ban as that clause is being challenged in
court by one of the biggest labour hire companies in the country, Africa Personnel Services.
Other significant legislation dealing with labour are the Social Security Act of 1994 and the
Affirmative Action (Employment) Act of 1998. The Affirmative Action (Employment) Act aims
to ‘achieve equal opportunity in employment; remedy, through suitable affirmative actions, the
conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by the masses through past
discriminatory laws and practices and to constitute procedures to contribute towards the
elimination of discrimination in employment (Affirmative Action and Employment Equity Act,
1998). This act is an intentional effort to redress the effects of apartheid on the majority of
Namibians prior to independence. The Social Security Act, on the other hand, provides for the
payment of maternity and sick leave benefits while also covering death benefits. It also provides
for medical benefits, old age pension and has a fund to support training schemes for
disadvantaged and unemployed people (Social Security Act, 1994).
The 2007 Labour Act confirms the fundamental right of freedom of association entrenched in the
Namibian constitution. The act protects employees against prejudice from an employer and
makes it clear that nobody can be discriminated against by employers. Workers have the right to
exercise any rights provided for in the labour act, disclose information required in terms of the
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labour act or any other law and refuse to do something that is not lawful. Workers have the right
to be a member of a trade union and to participate in lawful trade union activities, (LaRRI,
2008). Trade unions and employers’ federations are not allowed to discriminate against a person
regarding membership, elections or organisational activities based on any of the following:
•
Race, colour or ethnic origin;
•
Sex, marital status or family responsibilities;
•
Religion, creed or political opinion;
•
Social or economic status;
•
Degree of physical or mental disability;
•
AIDS or HIV status;
•
Previous, current or future pregnancy (LaRRI, 2008).
A trade union or employers’ organisation has to register with the office of the labour
commissioner and must provide a constitution that does not conflict with Chapter 3 of the
Namibian constitution, which deals with the fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Upon
registration, trade unions and employers’ organisations are required to comply with issues such
as accountability of organisational structures, appointment of officials and office – bearers,
election of shop stewards and procedures for changing the constitution; amongst others. Once
registered, trade unions have the right to represent their members in any proceedings brought
under the labour act, have access to an employer’s premises, have the right to have union
membership fees deducted, rights to form federations with other organisations, and to affiliate
and participate in any international workers’ organisations activities (LaRRI, 2008). Employers’
organisations also have the right to represent their members in any proceedings brought forward
under the labour act, to form federations with other employers’ organisations, and affiliate and
participate in the activities of any international employers’ organisation.
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According to the Labour Act of 2007, a registered trade union that represents the majority of the
employees in an appropriate bargaining unit is entitled to recognition as the exclusive bargaining
agent of the employees in that bargaining unit for the purpose of negotiating a collective
agreement on any matter of mutual interest. This, of course, only applies to a trade union
registered according to the labour act and if the union indeed represents the majority of the
employees. A trade union can seek recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent of an
appropriate bargaining unit by delivering a request in the prescribed form and submit it to the
employer as well as the labour commissioner. Within 30 days, the employer then has to notify
the union, in the prescribed form, whether the request was successful or not. As long as the
majority of workers are members of a union, it has the legal support to become the ‘exclusive
bargaining agent’.
Bargaining takes place either at the industrial and company level. Company level bargaining is
the common form in most of Namibia’s industrial sectors. On an industrial level, Namibia has
three industrial minimum wage stipulations, namely in the agricultural, security and construction
sector. In Namibia’s case, the government has never prescribed minimum wages but only played
the role of a facilitator when employees and employers bargain on an industrial level. That was
the case with the agricultural, construction and security sectors. To date, no wage commissions
were established to determine minimum wages for specific industries or sectors as provided for
in the Labour Act of 2007.
Labour disputes in Namibia are no longer resolved through labour district courts but through
arbitration and conciliation. Disputes are classified as either disputes of interests or disputes of
rights. Disputes of rights cannot legally end up in strikes but are referred to arbitration while
disputes of interests can legally lead to strikes if not resolved through the conciliation process.
The Labour Act recognises the fundamental right of employees to strike and the right of the
employer to lockout his or her employees. A legal strike though, can only take place if:
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•
It is a dispute of interest;
•
The dispute has been referred to the labour commissioner for conciliation;
•
30 days have expired since the dispute was referred for conciliation and the dispute still
remains unresolved;
•
48 hours notice has been given to the labour commissioner and the other party to the
dispute;
•
The strike of lockout conforms to any agreed rules regulating the conduct of the strike of
lockout; or any rules determined by the conciliator.
If the legal provisions have not been complied with, the strike is illegal and unprotected; workers
thus, and employers in the case of a lockout, will breach the law and expose themselves to more
harm than the intended good they aimed to make.
The Labour Act of 2007 has also provided for the establishment of an Essential Service
Commission to recommend to the Labour Advisory Council if all or part of a service should be
declared as an essential service. Essential services are basically services which, if interrupted,
would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or parts of the population of
Namibia. The act prescribes the procedures that must be followed before a service can be
declared an essential service. Once a service has been declared as an essential service, no strikes
or lockouts can be conducted there; disputes arising within essential services are resolved
through arbitration (LaRRI, 2008).
Namibia’s institutionalised tripartite structures include the Labour Advisory Council, the
committee for dispute prevention and resolution, an essential services committee, the wages
commission and the labour commissioner. The Labour Advisory Council comprises members
from the state, registered trade unions and registered employers’ organisations. Members are
appointed for a 3 - year term and advice the Minister of Labour on collective bargaining issues,
codes of good practices, national policies pertaining to basic conditions of employment, health
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and safety and welfare at the workplace and any other labour matters which the council considers
useful to achieve the objectives of the labour act.
The committee for dispute prevention and resolution performs an advisory role to the Labour
Advisory Council on matters relating to the prevention and resolution of disputes. Its main
functions include the recommendation of rules for the conducting of conciliation and arbitration,
recommending policies and guidelines on dispute prevention and resolution for application by
the Labour Commissioner, recommend a code of ethics for conciliators and arbitrators and
recommend the qualification and appointment of conciliators.
The essential services committee recommends the designation of essential services and
investigates disputes about whether or not an employee or employer is engaged in an essential
service and to make recommendations to the Labour Advisory Council in this regard. The wages
commission is a body that consists of a chairperson and between two and four additional
members, including a member nominated by a registered trade union and a member nominated
by registered employers’ organisations. The function of the commission includes the
investigation of terms and conditions of employment, including remuneration, and report to the
minister for the purpose of making a wage order.
The labour commissioner is appointed by the minister and the main powers and function of that
position include the registration of disputes from employees and employers; to prevent disputes
from arising through conciliation or advise the parties involved to attempt to resolve disputes
referred to his office and to arbitrate a dispute that has been referred to him, if the dispute
remains unresolved after conciliation.
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2.1. The Impact of the global financial crisis on the economy and labour
2.1.2. Impact on the Namibian economy
It is often argued that Namibia was not directly affected by the global financial and economic
crisis but it experienced trickledown effects caused by the slowdown of the global economy. The
country also experienced a decline in the development assistance and most importantly a
decrease in the countries growth prospects. This reduced growth prospects further slowed the
pace in government’s efforts towards poverty alleviation programs. The negative impact on the
primary, secondary and tertiary industries resulted in the decline of domestic output and thus
exports. The impact thereof was felt through some job losses, reduced government revenue and
reserves, decreased social spending and therefore increased poverty levels (BoN, 2009).
It was also reported that local the financial institutions were not highly affected. This is due to
the small local interbank market and the limited exposure to foreign banking institutions. There
was however an increase in non-performing loans due to inflatory pressure and rising borrowing
costs even though some banks maintained liquid assets above the minimum prescribed by the
Bank of Namibia as quoted by (NedBank, 2009). By the end of the third quarter, the overall
liquidity of commercial banks in Namibia declined to N$862 million from N$ 1.4 billion in 2009
(BoN, 2009).
Commercial banks have experienced a lower demand for credit and were not able to loan as
much as they have done in the past. This resulted in banks becoming cautious in the way they
were advancing credit due to high risks emanating from the economic contraction. The Namibian
economy is dependent on the circulation of credit and hence the hold back in advancement of
loans to the economy slows economic activities especially in sensitive sectors such as retail and
property market (FNB Quarterly review, Q3/09). Most employees in Namibia belong to a
defined contribution pension fund, where the risks of losses are borne by the employees. The
non-financial institutions are generally more exposed to foreign equity markets especially in
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South Africa. Due to this development, the value of pension fund investments depreciated by
34.23% during 2008 alone (NSX, overall index).
Mining is Namibia's key primary export sector with the main export being rough diamonds. This
sector was adversely affected by the crisis. The demand for diamonds at retail fell at about 10 per
cent in 2009, which then translated to a 20 per cent decrease in demand for loose polished
diamonds at wholesale, and a 35 per cent fall in the amount of rough diamonds required (Ned
Bank, 2009). The NAMDEB mining company which is co-owned by De Beers and the Namibian
government was one of the first companies to experience the effects of the global economic
crisis and about 2000 workers left the company by mid June 2009 either through voluntary or
forced retrenchment (Interview with Bro Mathew Hengari, 2009).
Copper mining was also not spared. For instance, Weatherly Mining Namibia suspended its
operations and four copper mines closed down by late December 2009 (BoN, 2009). As a result,
640 workers lost their jobs (MUN, 2009). The scorpion zinc mine was not as seriously affected
although a loss of 4% was recorded during the third quarter of 2009 on zinc concentrates
production (BoN, 2009). Uranium mining is one of the mining sectors that were less affected by
the crisis. This can be attributed to the increase in demand for nuclear power. In this regard,
uranium production increased by 17.2 % during the third quarter of 2009 (BoN, 2009).
The agricultural and fishing sector were slightly affected with a decline in export prices.
Horticultural productions decreased in 2008 and the sale of fish and grapes was negatively
affected. In this regard the Minister of Fisheries Abraham Iyambo noted that this decrease could
be attributed to the fact that the currencies in which these products are traded are the U$, Yen
and Euro and exchange rates were largely unpredictable. The slowdown was also attributable to
the reduction in purchasing power from the importing countries. This resulted for instance in the
low demand of the rock lobster for which the price decreased from N$ 220 per/kg to N$ 95
per/kg on the international market. The actual selling price per kg dropped by a whopping 57%.
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Workers were not spared either. For instance, at the Komsberg farm about 62 permanent workers
were retrenched by 31 May 2008 (NAFWU, 2009). NAFWU ensured that about six of the
retrenched workers were reinstated while about 60% of the retrenched workers were offered
employment as seasonal workers.
The effect on the transport sector affected the flow of trade. Transportation of commodities by
air or shipment from various continents was much slower than usual (Interview with John
Kwedhi, 2009). For instance, Trans Namib recorded a decline of 8% of the volume of rail cargo
in November/December 2009, although no retrenchments took place (NedBank, 2010). The
volume of commodities transported decreased and this led to a reduction in the profit margins of
some companies.
The manufacturing sector of any given country is considered a key vehicle for economic
growth. In Namibia, about 25000 workers are employed in this sector. The activities include
fishing, meat processing, beverages, metal and pre-cast concrete products. According to the 2008
Namibian National Accounts, this sector grew by a real annual average rate of 4.6% during the
period 2005 – 2008. That meant a growth in output at current prices from N$ 5 738 million in
2005 to N$ 9103 million in 2008. The contribution of this sector to the total GDP of Namibia in
2008 was 12.4% of GDP (Fourie, 2010).
Food and fish processing industries registered growth during that period with fish processing
recording a growth of 1.4% in 2008 alone. Exports earnings for manufactured products also rose
by 9% during the third quarter of 2009 (BON, 2009). These increases came from mostly canned
fish, fish meal, fish oil and other manufacturing products. Meat processing however showed little
or no growth but products such as dairy and beer showed significant growth of 19.3% in the third
quarter (Fourie, 2009).
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The crisis however had a more significant effect on the manufacturing of building materials, due
to a decrease in local construction activities and a fall in exports to Angola. The value of building
plans passed decreased by 9.4% and thus a reduction in the construction of buildings.
Tourism is Namibia's third biggest foreign exchange earner. The service sector as a whole and
the tourism sub-sector in particular, have been the fastest growing economic sectors in recent
years and play an increasingly important role in terms of job creation. The reality is that tourism
is also a fairly risky venture with high dependency on the economic and social conditions of the
tourist sending countries. Thus, if incomes fall in those countries where tourists originate from,
the industry is likely to experience a negative impact immediately. There are signs that the global
crisis has led to reduced numbers of tourists in Namibia in 2009 and of course Namibia had little
control over these external factors. Tourism in Namibia was considerably affected by the
economic crisis due to a reduction of incomes in the foreign countries. Some expected visitors
had to cancel their trips abruptly and those that visited had to shorten their stay and partook in
fewer activities in the country (MTI, 2009).
In this regard, professional hunting recorded a reduction of 29% in bookings although some
tourist operations were able to secure deposits of bookings for about 6-12 months in advance
(MTI, 2009). Even tourist arrivals from South Africa decreased by 7.5% from 2008 and
international arrivals by 4.5 % from 2008 (NAC, 2009). Tourism was however expected to
recover during 2010 because of the trickle down effects of the soccer world cup.
2.1.3. Impact on labour
Unemployment in Namibia now stands at 51.2 % based on the 2008 labour force survey
statistics. The economic crisis resulted in Namibian workers suffering job losses translating into
loss of income and reduction in purchasing power. Experts say it takes approximately 3-5 years
for the labour market to recover from such a negative financial position. Despite the fact that all
16
workers are affected, the low skilled workers tend to be more affected by dismissals. There is
also a gender dimension as men and women are not similarly affected (ITUC report, 2009). The
struggle for workers will however continue as underlying the economic crisis is an awaited
explosion of the human rights crisis. It has also created additional problems for workers and the
trade unions (Irene Khan quoted in the LAC report, 2008).
Trade membership density was also affected as job losses led to lack of increase in membership.
It goes without saying that the layoffs of workers has a direct impact on the purchasing power,
and leads to the reduction of sales of several products. Passenger vehicle sales were one of the
things that were affected as sales fell from 281 in November to 257 units by December 2009.
New commercial vehicle sales also declined from 546 to 480 units in December respectively
(NAMFISA, 2009).
The crisis also contributed to fewer people applying for mortgages and others found it difficult to
keep up with their mortgage repayments due to increased interest rates, food and fuel prices
(African Economic Outlook, 2009). The price of houses also decreased due to recessionary
pressures but there were slow increases in house prices of about 0.8% and 0.2 % respectively in
the third quarter of 2009 (BoN,2009).
Namibian workers of which an overwhelming majorities are poorly skilled and hence lowly paid,
the real crisis was felt on the bread and butter issues. A car for many workers is a luxury good
and decent housing is also a tall order, the impact for most workers was therefore felt on the
basic goods such as food, education and health.
Having considered this background which usually set the tone under which collective bargaining
takes place, the next section will review the nature of collective bargaining for 2009.
17
Section 3: The wage bargaining review for 2009
This section focuses on the cumulative review of the percentage and the average real percentage
increase for the period under review. The following trade unions are covered in the analysis:
•
The Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (NATAU): They organise workers
in the transport sector and the security guards.
•
The Namibia Public Workers Union (NAPWU): They organize workers in the public
sector, parastatals and local government institutions. NAPWU is the biggest union in
terms of membership, having a total paid up membership of 26 102.
•
The Mine workers Union (MUN): They organize workers in the mining and energy
sector.
•
The Namibia Food and Allied workers Union (NAFAU): They organize workers in
the food, fishing and retail, clothing and textile industry.
•
The Metal and Allied Namibia Workers Union (MANWU): they organize workers in
the building and construction industry, plastic, steel, iron industry, engineering and
metallurgical industry, lift and escalator, locksmith trade, karakul and weaving
industry. MANWU had a total paid up membership of 8987 by the end of 2009.
•
The Namibia National Teachers Union (NANTU): They organize teachers and staff
of education.
•
The Namibia Farm Workers Union (NAFWU): They organize workers in the
agricultural sector and domestic workers.
•
The Namibia Financial Institutions Union (NAFINU): They organize in the financial
and insurance sector including banks.
Tables 1 and 2 below show details on the number of bargaining units by industry and trade
unions. The government and local government sectors had the most bargaining units during 2009
as illustrated in table 1. This is followed by the services and the mining sectors. Table 2 below
shows that NAPWU managed to reach the highest number of collective bargaining agreements.
This can be attributed to the fact that they organise in the public sector. It is much easier to reach
consensus in the public sector because of the high level of formality and job security that
characterises the sector concerned. In sectors that are characterized by informality and low job
18
security as in the case of NAFWU it is always difficult for the trade unions and employers to
reach consensus. In the event when they do, it sometimes take very long before a collective
agreement is reached. NANTU is the only trade union that bargains with only one bargaining
agent which is government.
Table 1: Industrial classification (this refers to the actual number of bargaining agreements
reached within the different industries or sectors).
Industry Classifications
Number of bargaining units
Government and local government
20
Services
18
Mining, quarrying, energy and engineering
13
Transport, storage and communication
Food and hospitality
Agriculture, hunting, fishing and forestry
Manufacturing and construction
Financial, intermediaries and insurance
Wholesale and retail
Total
9
9
8
7
4
4
92
Table 2: Bargaining units per trade union (this refers to the number of bargaining agreements
reached by each trade union during 2009)
Union
NAPWU
NAFAU
MUN
MANWU
NATAU
NAFINU
NAFWU
NANTU
Total
Bargaining units
37
17
11
10
8
5
3
1
92
3.1 Minimum wages by trade union
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Figure 1 below shows the average percentage wage increase successfully negotiated for by the
different trade unions during 2009. NAFWU negotiated an average wage increase of above 14%,
whilst NANTU successfully negotiated an average wage increase of 14%. NAFWU also
negotiated 14% for the permanent general workers in the farming sector. NAFINU follows suit
with an average percentage wage increase of 12.7 percent, followed by NATAU with a
percentage wage increase of 11.4 percent for the transport, storage and communication sector
excluding the security guards. The security sector was excluded because of the already agreed
upon minimum wage reached in March 2009. The agreement states that entry-level payment for
all security guards should be N$3.80 per hour. The Mine Workers Union negotiated the lowest
percentage wage increase of 9.3 percent. This can be attributed to the effects of the global
economic crisis on the mining and quarrying sectors.
Figure 1: Average wage increase (%) by trade unions
Average % Increase
NAFAU
MANWU
MUN
NAFINU
NANTU
NAPWU
NATAU
NAFWU
Table 3 below shows the average wages negotiated by trade unions for the year 2008 and 2009
as well as the average real wages negotiated for 2009. It is important to note that trade unions
20
negotiated for wages above inflation during 2009. The average annual inflation rate was 8.8% for
2009. Although all the unions managed to negotiate an increase above the inflation rate,
NAFWU and NANTU negotiated the highest average real percentage wage increase of 5.6 and
5.2 percent respectively, which means that there is an increase in the purchasing power of their
members as their wages increased above the inflation rate. This is an improvement from the year
2008 to 2009 for NANTU when they negotiated for the least wage percent increase. Although
the percentage increase negotiated by NATAU decreased from 12.5 percent in 2008 to 11.4
percent in 2009, they still managed to negotiate an average real wage percent of 2.6 above the
inflation rate. This decrease should once again not be seen in isolation as it is clearly associated
to the difficulties that trade unions faced in wage negotiations due to the impacts of the global
economic crisis.
Table 3: Minimum wages by trade union
Trade Union
Average
wage Average
real
increase 2009 (%)
increase (%)
NAFAU
MANWU
MUN
NAFINU
NANTU
NAPWU
NATAU
NAFWU
Total average
9.7
9.4
9.3
12.7
14
9.8
11.4
14.4
11.34
wage
0.9
0.6
0.5
3.9
5.2
1
2.6
5.6
2.5
21
Note: the average real wage increase was reached by subtracting the annual inflation rate of
8.8% from the average wage increase reached by the trade unions mentioned above. The results
were not encouraging for all trade unions. For instance, in the case of NAFAU, the actual
increase minus inflation was only 0.9%.
As evidence from this table, there was an improvement in the total average wages negotiated by
the trade unions in 2009. The total average wage increase was 11.34 % in 2009. The implication
thereof is that all unionised workers that are represented by the above union’s purchasing power
was expected to have improved during 2009 as apposed to 2008. Figure 3 below gives a clear
comparison of the average percent increase against the real percent increase in wages. From this
figure one can see that although all the unions managed to negotiate above the inflation rate
MUN and MANWU negotiated the least with 0.5 and 0.6 percentage respectively. This is was a
clear indication that some trade unions are still negotiating for wages without taking the inflation
rate into account. It is of outmost importance for trade unions to always push for increases that
are above the inflation rate as it equips and strenghthens the workers purchasing power.
Consider the following example. Joseph works in a hotel. His salary is
N$1300.00. The union and the hotel management agreed to an increase of 9.7%
across the board. After this increase Joseph’s salary increased to N$1426.10.
What this means is that Joseph will now have an extra N$126.10 in his pocket
every month. He can only enjoy this extra N$126. 10 if the inflation rate was at
0%. But the reality is that inflation for 2009 was at 8.8% on average. The
inflation rate at 8.8% will mean that Joseph will have to find an extra N$125.50
from elsewhere to be able to afford the basic necessities. This means, his salary is
not enough for him to live on. The union should have negotiated for a total
amount of at least N$251.60 for Joseph to be able to benefit from the agreed
increase. For workers in Joseph’s salary range, the union should have negotiated
for a percentage increase of at least 19.4% for 2009.
22
Figure 2: Average wage and real wage increases by trade unions
Average % Increase
Real % increase
3.2. Minimum wage by sector
Figure 3 below is meant to illustrate the different industrial sectors in which the unions organise.
It is clear that the wholesale and retail sector managed to negotiate the highest average percent
increase of 12 percent followed by the transport, storage and communication sector with 11.5
percent. The manufacturing and construction sector plus the mining sector managed to get the
least average increase of 9 percent. These sectors as earlier observed were some of the hardest hit
by the global economic crisis resulting in some companies closing down and retrenching
workers.
Figure 3 below illustrates the fact that in real terms the mining and manufacturing sectors
reached the least real percent increase of only 0.2 percent with the wholesale and retail sector
reaching the highest real percent of 3 percent. The real wage gives an indication of the
purchasing power workers will have after the implementation of the wage increases. The greater
the real wage increase the more purchasing power one will have as the wage takes into account
inflation and its impact on the prices of goods.
23
Figure 2: Minimum wages by sector
Average working hours
Inflation rate
Average % increase
Real % increase
Figure 3: Average % increase by sector
Average % increase
Manufacturing and
construction
Mining,quarrying,energy,
engineering
Transport,storageand
communication
Wholesale and retail
Food, hospitality…
Government, Local
government
Services
24
Figure 4 above provides a comparison of the different average wage increases in each sector
represented by the unions. There is a slight correlation between the performances of each sector
to that of the associate union, for example the manufacturing and construction sector reached the
least average wage percent increase as well as the union that represents workers in that sector
MANWU. Some unions however overlapped in the same sector for example NAPWU and
NANTU who both organize in the public sector, which falls in one industrial classification.
Table 4: Average minimum wages for all sectors
Hours of work
Wage
(%)
increase Inflation
Real
wage
increase (%)
Average
45
10.23
8.8
1.4
Median
45
11.2
8.8
2.4
Table 4 above stipulates the average working hours, wage increases, inflation and the real wage
increase of all the sectors. The total average wage increase for all the sectors for 2009 was 10.23
percent with a real wage increase of 1.4 percent. Although the purchasing power of the workers
in all the sectors increased, negotiating for a bigger margin above inflation should be on the main
agenda of the trade unions when negotiating and at the same time prioritised for the general
workers receiving minimum wages and occupations were their membership are clustered. This
will in turn contributes towards the reduction of the wage gap in Namibia hence reducing the
problem of income inequality in the country. Having considered the cumulative wage
agreements reached for the period under review, the next section looks at some conditions of
employment which if not addressed poses implications for the kind of wages that need to be
negotiated for.
25
Section 4: Conditions of employment
4.1 Wages
Table 5 below shows that there was no evidence of inflation linkages to the wages negotiated
thus implying that inflation is not always regarded a major consideration during negotiations.
The table also depicts that most unions are still negotiating wages across the board, which means
that those with lower wages, still remain disadvantaged as compared to those that earns higher
wages. It is therefore advisable that trade unions should reconsider negotiating for non-across the
board wage increases if they are to assist in capping the incessantly widening wage gaps. Of
course, taking inflation into account will also help in attaining huge real wage increases, thus
making an evident difference in the purchasing power of the workers. An exception was noted in
the NAPWU agreement. They differentiated between grades 1A to 1B and grades 1C to 6B. The
former received a wage increase of 28% over two years and the latter and increase of 24% also
spread over two years. In this regard, the negotiations were not across the board.
Table 5: Wages
Wages
Value
Inflation
Evidence of explicit linking of increase to inflation.
None
Type of increase
Type of increase (staggered percentage, across the board Across
percentage or money amount).
the board
4.2. Working hours
The Labour Act of 2007 states that the normal working hours cannot be more than 45 hours per
week, or 9 hours per day if the person works for 5 days or less per week (Labour Act, 2007). It is
clear from table 6 below that there was little evidence indicating that overtime and shift
allowances were negotiated for as extra as benefits. This means in some instances employees
26
were most likely not appropriately remunerated for the extra hours worked. The Labour act of
2007 however states that “an employer may not require or permit an employee to work overtime
unless the employee and employer reached an agreement. It is important that trade unions should
guard against the exploitation of workers through excessive working hours without appropriate
remuneration. This is particularly crucial in the sectors were workers are prone to vulnerability
such as the security and agricultural sectors.
Table 6: Working hours and allowances
Hours of work and allowance
Value
Hours
Ordinary hours of work p/w
45 hours
Overtime
Max overtime p/w
Night shift
Night Shift allowance as % of basic wage
Shift
Shift allowance as % of basic wage
In 4 of the 92
agreements
In 2. of the 92
agreements
None
Standby
Standby allowance
In 11 of the 92
agreements
4.3 General conditions of employment
Table 7 below gives an analysis of the general conditions of employment. Half of the agreements
made provision for bonus payments. A significant number of the agreements, 20% of the
agreements made provision for housing, whilst 12% of the agreements made provision for
transport allowance. This shows that unions are starting to negotiate for additional but important
benefits rather than just wages and this positive development is commendable. Although much
still need to be done in terms of additional benefits if the working and living conditions of
employees are to be improved.
Table 7: General conditions of employment
27
General conditions of employment
Status Quo
Evidence of 'Status Quo' clause? (i.e. other Not
conditions are to remain the same, but they are not explicitly
stated
in
specifically named).
the
2009
agreements,
but perhaps
are catered
for in the
2008
agreements
Annual Leave
Annual leave in working days p/a
In 3 of the
92
agreements
Annual Leave
Annual leave in consecutive days p/a or equivalent
In 2 of the
92
agreements
Annual Leave
Evidence of Annual leave length of service benefits
None
Exemptions
Evidence of exemptions to leave benefits
None
BoNus
Annual BoNus - no. of weeks basic wage
In 46 of the
92
agreements
translating
into 50%
Housing
Housing benefits in N$ monthly
In 18 of the
92
agreements
Transport
Transport allowance in N$ monthly
In 11 of 92
agreements
Funeral
Evidence of Funeral assistance or benefits
In 4 of the
92
agreements
28
4.4. Job security
Table 8 is indicative of the fact that job security has also not been prioritised as there is no
evidence showing that such provisions has been made. No evidence of the notice period in an
event of termination is indicated in any of the agreements. This loophole needs to be seriously
considered. We all know that cases of unfair dismissals abounds in the nature of trade union
work and thus should be made provision for in the agreements and form part of the negotiations
at all times. There is also little evidence of severance pay in the agreements although the labour
Act of 2007 states that an employer must pay severance pay to any employee who completed 12
months of continuous service. Provision for severance pay should therefore be included at all
times.
Table 8: Security in employment
Security in employment
Forms of employment Evidence of extension of normal benefits to fixed
and short term employees
Forms of employment Evidence of policies with respect to labour brokers,
contract or casual workers
Provident
Evidence of Provident Fund - employer contribution
as % of basic
Notice period
Severance pay
None
None
In 5 of the
92
agreements
Notice period in the event of termination of None
employment
Severance pay - no. of weeks per year of service
None
4.5. Gender and women’s issues as part of collective bargaining
Gender and women’s issues have not always been given the prominence they deserve in trade
union activities. It is therefore no surprise that in table 8 little evidence of maternity and paternity
benefits were indicated in most of the agreements. Only 1 of the 92 of the agreements included
maternity leave for both permanent and temporary workers. Although the median maternity
benefit in terms of days per annum is 3 months, there is no evidence of the commitment of the
employer neither to pay the employee in terms of the maternity leave nor to help claim maternity
pay from social security. Working mothers are in need of childcare facilities at their workplaces
but the analysis shows that there is no evidence of any child assistance or childcare facilities
provisions in any of the agreements. Women form part of the workforce represented by the
unions and thus should be taken into consideration and their extra needs be taken into account
when bargaining.
29
Table 9: Gender as part of collective bargaining
Gender
Maternity Leave
Maternity Leave
Maternity Leave
Forms of employment
Maternity Pay
Maternity Pay
Maternity
Maternity
Maternity
Maternity
Maternity
Childcare
Childcare
Medical cover
Duration of maternity leave in consecutive months
Duration of paid maternity leave
Qualifying period for maternity leave
Evidence of extension of maternity benefits to fixed and short
term employees
Evidence of commitment by employer to pay employee in
terms of maternity leave prior to or during maternity leave and
to claim against SSC after the fact.
3 months
None
12 months
In 1 of 92
agreements
None
Evidence of commitment by employer to assist employee in
claiming maternity pay from SSC.
Evidence that maternity leave treated as continuous service
In 1 of 92
agreements
In 1 of 92
agreements
In 1 of 92
agreements
None
Evidence of employer maintaining benefit contributions
during maternity leave.
Evidence of leave (other than sick leave) for the purposes of
antenatal and post-natal checkups.
Evidence of time off and/or facilities for nursing mothers.
Evidence of job security for women wishing to return to work
after maternity leave.
Evidence of provision of childcare facilities.
Evidence of subsidization of childcare financial assistance
Sick leave
Evidence of employer provision of- or contribution tomedical/health cover.
Evidence of practical measures that promote reproductive
and/or sexual health
Sick leave in days p/a
Parental Leave
Evidence of other Parental rights
Compassionate Leave
Compassionate Leave
Duration of paid Compassionate leave in days p/a
Travel add-on to Compassionate Leave in days per occasion
Paternity Leave
Duration of paid paternity leave in days p/a
Reproductive
In 1 of 92
agreements
None
None
In 4 of the 92
agreements
In 8 of the 92
agreements
In 4 of 92
agreements
30
days/annum
In 1 of 92
agreements
5 days
In 1 of 92
agreements
None
4.6. HIV/AIDS in collective bargaining
30
Table 10 below shows that there is no evidence of HIV/AIDS provisions in any of the
agreements. HIV/AIDS pandemic is rife in Namibia as not only does it affect the workers and
their livelihood, it also have a trickledown effect on the productive abilities of the employees.
Work place wellness program including HIV/AIDS should be prioritised in collective bargaining
negotiations. In the case were they exist, they should be routinely reviewed to ensure that the
policies and programs remain relevant in terms of its impact on the lives of workers and
employers. The workplace policies should include things such as protection against
discrimination and victimisation on the basis of a worker’s HIV status. If possible, workplaces
should also have an HIV focal person. The role of such a person is to identify workers at risk of
wellness problems as well as to educate workers and employers about prevention, living
positively and do referrals to the relevant institutions. Such workers could be identified through
monitoring worker behaviour for instance if a worker is constantly absent or loses concentration
etc. In all the agreements we reviewed, there was no evidence of any practical measures of
creating awareness, counseling or voluntary testing in the case of HIV/AIDS or existence of
wellness programs. This is a very serious omission that needs urgent attention.
Table 10: Wellness including HIV/AIDS
HIV & AIDS
Awareness
Evidence of practical measures to raise awareness.
Voluntary Counseling Evidence of practical measures to provide VCT. (
and Testing
Voluntary Counseling and Testing)
Confidentiality
Evidence of practical measures to promote
confidentiality.
Treatment
Evidence of practical measures to provide access to
treatment
None
None
None
None
4.7. Staff development
31
There is also little evidence of study leave or any sort of staff development. Training is important
for the workers as they are able to improve their skills in order to qualify for better wages.
Training and education should therefore form an integral part of the negotiations as education
can help empower workers.
Learnerships
Training
Education and training
Evidence of implementation of learnerships
Evidence of
implementation of other
Development initiatives
Study
Study leave in days p/a
Study
Education & training allowance
Very low
skills In 2 % of
the
92
agreements
2
days/annum
Very low
32
Section 5: Conclusion and recommendations
Compared to 2008, there was substantial progress made in terms of the kind of negotiations that
trade unions achieved during 2009. For instance, most of the trade unions managed to negotiate
for wages above inflation. Many however, failed to negotiate for wages well-above the inflation.
This means, much of the extra wages the workers gained was eaten up by inflation. Evidence
indicate that trade unions still continue to prioritise wages in negotiations and give the other
additional benefits necessary for workers a negligible and ad-hoc attention or low priority.
Benefits such as compulsory medical aid contributions were hardly touched on. We therefore
recommend that parental leave and breast feeding mother-friendly work places should be
mainstreamed in negotiations. Although, the report showed an improvement in the transport and
housing allowance negotiations, there is no evidence of education and training which are
essential to workers skills development and empowerment. The wage gap between the rich and
the poor keeps increasing and increases in wages across the board contributes to this gap. Trade
unions should therefore help reduce the income inequality in the country by making the lowwaged workers their priority, negotiate much higher increases for them, and a little less for
higher earning workers. Unions should also through CBAs exert influence on how internal
recruitment should be conducted. In addition, unions should use their position to dilute the use of
performance appraisal in making such decisions. Profit sharing payments should be part of
collective bargaining negotiations or share or stock options in companies should also be
important. Investment options in the particular company so that workers feel that they are part
owners of the company. Flexible working hours for breast feeding mothers and on-site child care
facilities are important if we are to expect maximum productivity in the work place.
Additionally, the care of HIV positive employees should become a priority, including messages
on how to live positively.
33
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35