Catherine Sasman
5 September 2008
Windhoek — More than 1900 TransNamib workers are on strike since Wednesday, after the Ministry of Works and Transport failed to respond to a petition from the parastatal's workers.
The Namibia Transport and Allied Union (Natau) said there are only 15 people left working in TransNamib offices in Windhoek, and some workers at the Gammams Training College where a course is being held.
Trains have come to a standstill, and fear is that the parastatal will be hit hard by the work stoppage.
The Namibia Transport and Allied Union (Natau) and TransNamib's management on Wednesday held a meeting to identify essential services that should not be affected by the strike, but it is understood that there was no clear agreement, except for the training centre at the Gammams railway depot, which is unaffected at this stage.
General secretary of Natau, John Kwedhi, said a train en route to the north-east of the country with a consignment of fish on board might be allowed to proceed to its destination. The train was until yesterday morning stationary at Grootfontein.
Another consignment that might be allowed to continue on its way contains medical supplies to the north.
Passengers on TransNamib trains have reportedly been given notice that there would be no transport.
He said all other consignments - possibly including fuel - would not be allowed to be transported.
"Our fight is an economic one, for sustainable development. We do not want our railway to be taken over by people through privatization. We want to control our own railway network," said president of Natau, David Tjombe, who is also a TransNamib employee, from the Windhoek station, where workers gathered yesterday morning.
By yesterday, the Ministry of Works and Transport had not met the striking workers or their representatives, and had not given them feedback on a petition calling for the immediate reinstatement of Chief Executive Officer, Titus Haimbili, and the firing of the board chaired by Festus Lameck.
The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) yesterday also threatened a national strike of all its members from next week if there is no desired outcome of the petition handed over to the Ministry of Works and Transport on Tuesday.
This, said Evilastus Kaaronda, secretary general of NUNW, would cover all sectors in which the union has members, which include the public service, teachers, and mines.
He said the first draft programme for a national strike is ready for circulation to all the structures of the union.
The NUNW lamented the state of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the country, and said a single governing board should be established for all SOEs for coherence and harmony of salary structures and other policy matters.
Kaaronda said such a board should not be an extension of Cabinet or any Cabinet committee, but that it should be autonomous with members derived from other stakeholders like trade unions and community members through their representative organisations.
The union went on to say that the Prime Minister should also not be a member of such a single controlling board, which should report directly to Parliament.
"[We] make this specific recommendation in the knowledge that the current SOEs governance council under the chairpersonship of the Prime Minister has dismally failed to deliver and live up to its mandate. It is our further assertion that the Office of the Prime Minister is naturally supposed to be too busy to be able to meticulously attend to the governance issues of SOEs," Kaaronda said.
The union said the appointment of board members of SOEs should not be centralised, "as some ministers have openly abused this prerogative".
It further called for cross-subsidisation where essential services are delivered to the poor, and that a tariff ceiling be implemented to help the poor have access to services such as water and electricity. Kaaronda said the "hefty" salaries of board members and executives of SOEs should also be addressed for these to be streamlined with those in the public service.
Moreover, he warned that the union would not hesitate to "retaliate" should the striking TransNamib workers be victimised.
"[They] must now be warned that such arrogance will no longer be tolerated," Kaaronda said.
It is understood that Ministry of Works and Transport top officials were in and out of meetings the whole of yesterday, and that a 17h00 meeting scheduled with the union and the management of TransNamib was called off by late yesterday afternoon.
By late yesterday afternoon the ministry had not responded to the petition of the union, nor to queries from the press.
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