Hertta-Maria Amutenja
When the rest of the country went out to participate in the National Assembly and Presidential elections on 27 November, the employees of Olivia’s Kitchen in Windhoek were told to report for duty.
This is despite the day being declared a public holiday.
“Dear Team, as election day approaches, we want to remind everyone of the importance of participating in the democratic process. Voting is not only a civic duty but also an opportunity to make your voice heard. If you plan to vote tomorrow and it might affect your work schedule, please let your manager know as soon as possible. We want to ensure smooth operations while supporting everyone’s right to vote,” reads the message from the management.
Olivia’s Kitchen is owned by British businessman Harvey Boulter.
The employees who spoke to the Windhoek Observer on condition of anonymity claimed they were threatened with salary cuts and job losses if they left work to go vote.
The Tourism and Allied Workers Union of Namibia (TAWUN) president, Bernhard Petrus, confirmed that the union is aware of the situation.
He said efforts to resolve the dispute have been unsuccessful, as the owner has allegedly refused to engage with the union or attend arranged meetings.
“The owner refuses to engage with us. He is not picking up our calls and does not attend meetings we have arranged,” Petrus said.
According to Petrus, Olivia’s Kitchen has dismissed some employees and made allegations that staff were consuming alcohol while on duty.
“They are threatening employees with cancelling their membership with the union and have cut salaries for October and November,’ he said.
Petrus revealed that the union, alongside labour inspectors, visited the restaurant twice this week to address the matter but was unable to meet the owner.
TAWUN also vowed to escalate the matter with the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation as the dispute remains unresolved.
“Our only resort now is to refer the matter to the labour commissioner,” he said.
Employees also claim they were underpaid because of what their management described as a faulty clock-in system.
They claim that management has not issued payslips and is using this system to justify salary reductions.
“Even if we are talking now, they don’t want to give us our payslips,” an employee said.
The employees claim that the message from the two individuals encouraging them to vote conflicted with the threats they received.
Jerome Kanana, team leader at Olivia’s Kitchen, denied the claims.
“People are just making false allegations. I don’t know what they are trying to stir up, but it seems some staff are unhappy with certain things,” he said.
Kanana attributed the salary discrepancies to employees failing to clock in or out properly.
“Some have poor time management, and others don’t even show up for work. Yet, they expect a full salary, which doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Kanana was also interested in finding out which employee had informed the media about the issues at the restaurant.
