Patience Makwele
Workers covered by the Government Employment Redress Programme (GERP) are seeking a settlement of outstanding employment claims as the government moved to end the initiative, with their union asking for negotiations to continue beyond the programme’s scheduled closure.
The Mining, Metal, Maritime and Construction Workers Union (MMMCWU), which represented workers from more than 13 fishing companies, petitioned the ministry of agriculture, fisheries, water and land reform over unpaid overtime, night-shift allowances and severance pay.
The grievances affect workers, some of whom lost their jobs following industrial action in 2015 and were later accommodated under GERP.
Introduced in 2020, the programme used fishing quota allocations to participating companies to create employment opportunities for affected workers.
However, the workers say the arrangement has not resolved all their historical employment claims.
One worker said they had remained with the companies because the government had presented the programme as a permanent solution.
The worker said they only later learnt that the programme was scheduled to end on 31 October, leaving them uncertain about what would happen next.
They had also received letters concerning ex gratia payments for 96 individuals who had opted for voluntary exit from the programme.
Union secretary general Joseph Garoeb is therefore demanding six years’ outstanding severance pay and says “workers should not be expected to return to the companies while negotiations over their claims remain unresolved.”
Garoeb proposed that workers receive N$250 000 each to leave the programme by 1 November, provided they accepted the package.
He also called for the programme to be placed on hold for a week to give the parties time to negotiate.
“What we are saying is, let’s put the programme on hold, even for a week. Let’s engage, let’s talk about the package and then if the package is fine, we can go,” he said.
The ministry and the union agreed to keep the matter open while negotiations continue. The ministry was given five working days to consult and return with directives by the following Friday.
Addressing the workers during the protest, deputy executive director Ueritjiua Kauaria said the 1 November date did not automatically mean workers would become unemployed, adding that discussions could continue after the programme’s scheduled end.
“We still have time to continue negotiating, even past 1 November,” Kauaria said.
He said the ministry would review the petition and provide feedback as soon as possible.
GERP’s closure follows a government review of the programme.
In April, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said it was scheduled to conclude in April 2027, at the end of its planned seven-year duration.
The government subsequently brought forward the termination date to 31 October, following a performance audit and a Cabinet decision.
The ministry has said the programme had 2,255 beneficiaries, of whom 1 343 were actively employed and 912 were not actively employed, according to figures released in August.
The ministry has acknowledged that implementation challenges existed but maintained that GERP had achieved its primary purpose as an extraordinary government intervention to protect jobs, preserve livelihoods and provide relief to workers affected by the industrial action and subsequent company closures.
It has said assessments were conducted to determine which companies could sustain employment beyond the programme.
The programme’s winding down has also involved arrangements for companies to absorb workers into permanent employment where possible.
Under the transition arrangements reported by the ministry, companies taking workers into permanent employment were expected to retain them for at least 12 months.
Companies could also receive an allocation of eight tonnes of hake freezer quota per worker within their commercial quota.
For workers who could not be placed in sustainable employment, the government outlined once-off exit arrangements.
These include a minimum ex gratia payment of N$96 000 for qualifying workers aged 55 and older and those choosing to leave the programme.
The union’s latest petition raises questions over how outstanding employment claims will be settled alongside those exit arrangements. Garoeb’s proposed N$250 000 package remains a demand by the union and has not been confirmed as an agreed payment by the ministry.
