The three striking employees of Cheetah Cement who were detained Monday morning by members of the Namibian Police Force for allegedly violating a court order, are all out on a warning.
The employees who were detained are the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) regional deputy treasurer, Philemon Shipanga, MUN Cheetah Cement branch coordinator, Nafital Nghipitwako and Johannes Willem.
Otjiwarongo Police Station commander, Chief Inspector Nelvin Adams who headed the operation Monday morning told Nampa in an interview Monday afternoon that the trio was released on a warning.
Adams and 15 other police officers who detained them earlier on Monday had told the Cheetah Cement employees to vacate the striking site, saying the police received a court order instructing them to enforce the law and prevent all striking employees from the Cheetah Cement premises.
In July this year, the workers were dragged to the labour court for allegedly blocking the entrance of the cement factory.
They were also warned in a letter by Windhoek-based lawyers, Köpplinger Boltman Legal Practitioners on instruction of Cheetah Cement trading as Whale Rock Cement, to not block other employees who want to perform official company duties, from doing so.
The workers were also told not to block trucks destined to load coal or cement and its products as the factory was allegedly incurring losses of about N.dollars 1.2 million per day.
Nghipitwako also told this press agency that they were kept at the Otjiwarongo Police Station for questioning and were later released without charge.
“We are back at the site, they got us in the morning and we are continuing with our legal strike until our demands are met,” he said.
Nghipitwako, Shipanga and Willem by 15h00 on Monday joined other employees on strike at the factory gate where they have been striking since July this year.
The workers are demanding a reasonable salary increase, introduction of a housing allowance, medical aid and pension.
The striking workers have not received their salaries since July as per the strike rules.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
