MORE than 100 construction workers at the site of the five-star Eliakim Namundjebo Plaza Hotel in the Windhoek city centre yesterday downed tools, demanding that they get paid what is due to them in annual leave days and housing allowances.

The large group of workers, who are employed by the construction company New Era Investments, said that they were tired of waiting for their annual leave pay for the year, and fed up with the postponements in the dates for payment.

They say that with the company having promised to pay them by December 15, and with Christmas just around the corner, the fact that they hadn't received what is due to them yet is unreasonable. The company's workers at other sites in and outside Windhoek, they say, have also taken similar action.

Their employer, New Era Investments, however says there has been a misunderstanding, and that the workers themselves are breaking an agreement they had reached with the company, along with their representative union.

Speaking on behalf of the workers, Thaddeus Kavili told The Namibian that the workers were tired of the empty promises constantly made to them by their supervisors at New Era Investments. He said the workers were owed payment for the 24 leave days that they should have been entitled to this year. This would range from anywhere between N$640 to N$1 440 per worker, depending on their job function (with worker fees ranging anywhere between N$27 and N$60 per day).

Another worker noted that the company also owed the workers a housing allowance which also differs for each employee, and is calculated by multiplying the hourly wage of the workers by 120.

The total amount owed to all the workers at the various sites could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

By yesterday afternoon, with some union intervention, New Era Investments had promised to pay the workers by December 24. Weary of yet another postponement, the workers responded that if such was the case, they would simply keep their tools down until December 24.

Kavili said the workers would, however, report to work today to see if any change had been made.

Contacted for comment, New Era Investments Manager, who would only identify himself as Mr Charlie, said that together with the union, the company had agreed to pay the workers on the last working day of the year in accordance with the Labour Act.

He said that some of the workers had approached the head office on Tuesday demanding their leave pay. According to him, the union then stepped in and sent some representatives to the company, with a resulting agreement that the workers would be paid by the end of the month.

He said that in this respect, the workers were in fact the ones breaking the agreement, and said he did not understand why the workers had downed their tools when these matters had been discussed just the previous day.

"My colleagues are doing things according to the Act," Charlie stated, adding that he was not aware of promises being made that the workers would be paid on Tuesday (December 15) already.

Charlie also said that both the annual leave pay and the allowance would be paid by the end of the year, prior to the workers going on their annual leave. Asked when the last working day of the year would be for the workers, he said this could differ from site to site, based on the factors involved in determining the working year, such as the deadline on the projects.

The Eliakim Namundjebo Plaza Hotel is set for completion in April next year, and will be managed by the Hilton Group. New Era Investments was awarded the N$151 million project early this year.