Martin Endjala
Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (NAFAU) recently agreed to sign a substantive wage increase agreement for the 2024 financial year.
As part of the new agreement, the two parties have agreed on an overall increase of 7.5 percent in basic salaries for NBL employees.
The agreement is for all bargaining unit employees and applicable for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 and 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2024 respectively.
The company’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Surihe Gaomas-Guchu said that it will continue with the current incentive scheme that will enable employees in the bargaining unit to earn an additional bonus equal to a monthly salary during the financial year.
Signing the agreement, NAFAU’s Regional Coordinator, Simon Muukapo expressed his appreciation to the NBL negotiation team for adopting a transparent approach to finalising negotiations that ensured that the workers in the bargaining unit receive their salaries on time.
“As we all know, from a social point of view, everyone is affected by the rising cost of living. The workers are therefore grateful for the increase they will receive and NAFAU is proud to have facilitated these negotiations with the gallant Shop Stewards that made sure that the demands of the workers are met to ensure that their co-workers get their increase on time. It is therefore a pleasure from NAFAU to appreciate NBL Management and this should also serve as a good example for other employers to emulate,” said Muukapo.
The Managing Director of NBL, Peter Simons lauded all the parties that were involved in the process which has resulted to ensure that all bargaining unit employees of the company will receive their increases with this month-end payroll.
“I would like to wholeheartedly thank the negotiation team from the union and the business, for the mutually beneficial consensus reached for the interest of our employees and the company,” said Simons.
He added that the latest agreement paves the way for NBL to continue focusing on its business performance to further deliver on its mandate and annual business plan for the benefit of its shareholders, employees, customers, and consumers.
Heineken also recently completed the acquisition of Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) and Distell Namibia.
The combined business which is still named NBL with its headquarters in Windhoek, will remain listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange.
The integration of the businesses allows the local company to merge its strengths and resources to better serve its customers with a wider portfolio of brands from the 1st of July 2023 onwards.
