Langer Heinrich workers demand payment

Jessica BotesLanger Heinrich Uranium (LHU) mine workers on Wednesday participated in a peaceful demonstration in Swakopmund at the mine’s head office to hand over a petition. In the petition the mineworkers through the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) voiced their concerns about overtime payment allegedly owed to them and the mine’s alleged dishonouring of collective agreements. “The MUN would hereby like to lodge its unhappiness towards the mine for the injustice and daylight robbery that has been taking place under our noses sice 2007, without fear of being persecuted or facing disciplinary action as was nearly the case with our previous demonstration for apparently trying to bring the name of the company into disrepute,” said the MUN in its petition which was handed over to LHU’s industrial relations specialist, Marizaan Hennop.In the petition the MUN alleges that LHU had drafted a policy in 2007 in which it undertook to pay its employees only 70% for all overtime worked.“As much as we understand the company’s reasoning behind that wrongful move, we do not accept it as being satisfactory due to the following reasons. “The company at first admitted that they had made a mistake and even suggested that bygones be bygones and that we start afresh with a new policy. The company secondly shifted the blame to errors and irregularities having been found in the payroll system. After having seen that there is no way out of this, the company then turns around and suggests that if they have to repay the monies owed to us then some of us would also be eligible to repay money owed to the company,” the MUN said in the petition. The mineworkers also warned that they would continue demonstrating until the message gets through to LHU that it must pay back the money owed to its employees and that it must be done in a very short period of time. In the petition the MUN also requests LHU to start complying to collective agreements and to honour them. “Our recently signed Recognition and Procedural agreement provides for that the company engages the MUN on matters of mutual interest but the company keeps on breaching the agreement. Some of us employees who get booked off for long periods are suffering on a monthly basis because the company does not honour the special sick leave agreement and we find ourselves sitting with no salary payment at the end of the month with bills piling up whilst there is provision for such instances. “The new employees currently find themselves being underpaid because the company chose not to honour the Patterson grading implementation policy,” said the MUN in its petition. The union also voiced its concern about the office of the labour commissioner allegedly being silent on some of these matters which have been referred to its offices.

Langer Heinrich workers demand payment

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Republikein 2025-05-01

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Langer Heinrich workers demand payment

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