Namibia Media Professionals Union (NAMPU) secretary general, Sakeus Iikela has accused the Labour Commissioner at the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation of employing delaying tactics in dealing with the union’s registration.

According to him, NAMPU, an organisation established in November 2020 representing media professionals in Namibia, applied for official recognition from the Labour Commissioner in 2020.

However, he said, the Labour Commissioner has been dragging its feet on NAMPU’s constitution over minor issues such as spacing and punctuation.

In an update on the matter at the 02 November commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, Iikela said the delay in the approval of the union has caused serious damage to its members who continue to suffer without representation.

As such, Iikela said, the union has not been able to address legal cases involving its members or enter into a binding agreement with employers for the benefit of its members.

“We submitted our constitution to the Labour Commissioner in December 2020. In September 2021, they responded to us and told us to make minor grammatical corrections which we have dealt with. We resubmitted our constitution again earlier this year, but are yet to hear from them,” he said.

Iikela added that the union has also not been able to deduct subscriptions from its members as it has no legal mandate to do so.

Asked why there has been a delay in the registration of the union, Chief Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Maria Hedimbi said NAMPU’s application did not meet the qualification requirements.

“All trade union applications must comply with specific requirements under sections 53 and 57 of the Labour Act. There are several trade union applications pending as their constitutions submitted for registration fail to comply with the legal requirements for registration. Some applications are referred back more than five times and still do not meet the clear requirements,” she told Nampa on Sunday.

Hedimbi added that the turnover time depends on the ability of the trade union to comply with the clear and specific requirements under the section of the Act.

“For fair reasons, the Labour Commissioner refers applications back to the applicant for corrections and re-drafting instead of rejecting registration applications, however, this process is time-consuming and out of the hands of the Labour Commissioner,” she explained.

Hedimbi dismissed suggestions of political interference in the process, saying the Labour Commissioner works independently.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency