The president of the Trade Union Congress of Namibia (TUCNA), Paulus Hango, says fishing industry workers are facing deteriorating working conditions, salary reductions, and possible job losses.

Speaking at a media briefing in Walvis Bay, Hango said workers from several fishing companies are struggling with reduced working hours and prolonged periods without work.

The TUCNA president, Paulus Hango, emphasised that workers are being deprived of their right to work and to have decent jobs, as stipulated in the Labour Act.

"Workers at Gendev Fishing have been going through difficult times for the past three years. These workers sometimes did not come to work for months, sometimes seven months consecutively. When employers call them back to work, they are given short working hours, and their salaries have, in many cases - in all cases, in fact - been reduced to 50%. Gendev Fishing has been requesting the government to allow its fishing vessels to catch within the 200-meter isobath, which means being allowed to fish at a depth of 200 meters."

Hango says that although the government allowed certain companies to fish in the restricted 200-metre isobath to sustain employment, workers' conditions did not improve.

"Before granting Gendev the right to catch at the 200-meter isobath, the first question should have been how workers would benefit and what terms and conditions of employment Gendev is offering its employees. You cannot demand to be allowed to fish at the 200-metre isobath while workers are suffering without decent jobs. Many companies try to convince the government that they are creating jobs, but whenever they receive quotas or rights to fish wherever they have requested, workers do not really benefit."

Hango singled out Gendev Fishing, which has threatened to lay off 489 employees, as well as Gendor under the Novanam Group and Kuiseb Fishing, as some of the companies responsible for poor working conditions and retrenchments.
The union criticised meetings between government officials and company management.

"Officials from the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations are, in many cases, communicating only with management. There have been several meetings, some of them even held behind closed doors, where shop stewards and unions were not present. The discussions held in those meetings affect workers. This is not good."

The Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations did not respond to the allegations.