Labour Minister Utoni Nujoma has encouraged Namibian workers to learn about the rights and protections guaranteed to them by labour and employment laws, including the right to join trade unions.

Nujoma in his Workers’ Day message issued on Thursday, noted that if workers are able to engage with their employers through well-functioning democratic trade unions, they will achieve better wages, conditions of employment and an overall better standard of living.

“The current situation in Namibia’s world of work does not measure up to the visions and principles set out in our laws and I regret to say that not all employers view trade unions as a positive force in Namibia’s socio-economic development, respect the dignity of their employees or subscribe to the goals of decent work,” he stated.

The minister added that a large percentage of Namibian workers are low-paid and lack protection for their health and safety, unemployment is threatening the future of youth and the vestiges of discrimination on the basis of race, sex and/or disability, among other grounds, persist in some sectors and workplaces.

“This situation must be reversed if we are to move forward as a nation. I encourage the trade unions to rededicate themselves to improving their representation of workers. A trade union should not be treated by its officials as a money-making opportunity or a political stepping-stone and should instead be dedicated whole-heartedly to protecting and promoting the interests of workers, bargaining in good faith with employers, and organising unorganised workers,” he said.

Nujoma noted that Namibian workers’ contribution has the ability to enable Namibia to achieve its national vision of an industrialised and prosperous country.

He labelled Namibian workers as the backbone of the nation, while paying tribute to them for their foundational contribution to the socio and economic development of Namibia and to the wellbeing of their families.

“Their brains and muscles serve to produce the wealth that is created through our natural resources, to construct Namibia’s infrastructure, and to provide the countless range of services offered by the public and private sectors,” Nujoma said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency