More than 200 workers of Cheetah Cement outside Otjiwarongo plan to hold a peaceful demonstration Thursday morning.
The demonstration will be led by the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN).
Cheetah Cement, which trades as Whale Rock Cement, employs 210 Namibian workers and 44 Chinese nationals. All Namibian workers allegedly indicated their full participation in the demonstration.
MUN on Tuesday wrote a letter to the police requesting an escort during the demonstration to start from the office of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation and proceed to the governor’s office.
“We would like to request your presence for safety reasons during this process, we intend to voice our concerns on how the situation at Cheetah Cement is affecting our lives,” said the notice.
The Otjozondjupa governor’s office and that of the regional council chairperson confirmed to Nampa on Wednesday receipt of the notification, and promised to receive the workers’ petition.
Cheetah Cement General Manager (GM), Kevin Lee in an interview with Nampa on Wednesday also confirmed receipt of the same notification.
Kevin said cement production at the factory remains closed since last week.
“We also had a meeting on Monday with the workers and MUN, but we reached a deadlock,” he said.
The GM explained that the workers are demanding hefty salaries which the company cannot afford.
He stated that the company is proposing to employees earning less than N.dollars 6 000 an increase of N.dollars 800, while those paid above N.dollars 6 000 are offered N.dollars 500, which the workers refused.
“Management even proposed the introduction of a pension fund to start in January 2023, and an introduction of a medical aid scheme with 80 per cent on the company, and 20 on employees, but still they refused saying they want more,” said Kevin.
He also revealed that the manager for human resources and administration, Zayn Koorts who the employees allegedly clashed with resigned from Cheetah Cement at the beginning of May.
Koorts on Monday also said that he no longer works for Cheetah Cement.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
