Kapako — Employees of the multi-million-dollar Rundu-Nkurenkuru road project finally signed contracts with their employer China Henan for International Cooperation (CHICO) at Rundu on Friday.

The signing follows a strike on May 16 and a second one that was planned for June 5 and 6, but did not take place.

The Acting Director for Labour Services in the Ministry of Labour and Social Services, Felix Musukubuli, who visited the site last week to investigate the employees' complaints, found that the employer recruited workers without having entered into employment contracts, and that the employer also did not have employment records of his employees.

Felix also found that CHICO did not comply with the minimum wage in the construction industry, because they (CHICO) were paying employees N$5 an hour, which is way below the N$8,44 required by the Labour Act in the construction industry.

CHICO Human Resource Manager Linus Neumbo and Oscar Thomas, who represented the employees, signed the agreement on Friday.

According to the agreement, the company should issue employees with contracts with explicit employment conditions consistent with the basic employment conditions in terms of the Labour Act 6 of 1992 Part V.

The parties further agreed that the company should comply with the minimum pay rates of each job category in the construction industry, and that the company should recognise the workers' committee that should be represented in company meetings.

Neumbo expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the agreement and gave assurance of the timely completion of the Government's multi-million dollar project.

Meanwhile, spokesperson of the workers Oscar Thomas hoped for improved relations between the employer and employees.

The labour inspector witnessed the signing ceremony.

Nampa