‘Nail in construction’s coffin’

Jo-Maré Duddy – Government’s labour measures pertaining to Covid-19 will be “the final nail in the coffin for many businesses that are on the edge of an abyss from where there is no return”, the construction sector warned yesterday.The Construction Industries Federation of Namibia (CIF) received the draft Labour Directive Relating to Covid-19 - certified by the ministry of justice and announced by the minister of labour, industrial relations and employment creation, Utoni Nujoma, on Wednesday – with “dismay, shock and disbelief”, the consulting general manager of the CIF, Bärbel Kirchner, said.The directive, which the CIF “fears” will be promulgated soon, is “so harsh and restrictive that any employer in the construction sector – and most likely in many other sectors as well – will throw in the towel and will capitulate”, Kirchner said.“Currently close to 70% of our employers are already operating at a loss. They have struggled to survive four terrible years of recession,” she added.Should the directive in its current form be gazetted, it will lead to “many more retrenchments, liquidation and closure of businesses”, the CIF cautioned.Jobs haemorrhageThe latest employment figures by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) support the CIF’s warning.The Namibian Labour Force Survey (NLFS) of 2018 showed 45 057 people were employed in the construction sector as a whole – 17 948 or nearly 28.5% less than in 2016. Namibia entered its first recession year in the current slump in 2016.In 2016, the informal construction sector provided employment to 47 415 people. Two years later, these jobs were slashed to 29 438, a drop of nearly 38%. In 2018, youth employment in the sector stood at 23 987, plummeting by nearly 36.6% compared to 2016.‘Wits end’“Every single employer is fighting for survival to ensure that they have something to return to beyond the lockdown period and the aftermath of Covid-19,” Kirchner said yesterday. “They are at their wits end to ensure that relationships with employees can be maintained and that jobs can continue to be secured, where possible, once businesses start operating again and have sufficient demand to be able to operate optimally.”The directive and the ministry’s position is “unlikely to generate positive industrial relations”, Kirchner said. “Nor will it contribute to job security and employment creation.”According to the CIF, the directive did not materialise on “any so-called agreement between employer representatives” and the labour ministry.“In fact, some employer representatives were only informed of the directive and had not chance to give input to that document although they have repeatedly shared information about the precarious state of their industries, as well as measures that could lead to optimal levels of employment with the minister and senior officials at MLIREC [ministry].”Kirchner added: “Considering the content of the directive, the CIF feels and wonders whether it reflects an authority that might be out of touch with reality, if not in contradiction to its own mandate.”ProposalsThe CIF proposes that flexibility in terms of applying some of the Labour Act’s regulations be introduced so as to ensure that optimal employment can be secured, once businesses can become operational again. In contradiction with the Act, the directive limits the employer’s scope to retrench an employee, Kirchner said. However, the employer has the right to dismiss an employee within the confines of the Act. The Act does not make any provision for any restrictions of the employer due to an emergency situation, she said.According to the Act, an employer has the right to request employees to take annual leave and can negotiate unpaid leave or taking “unaccrued” paid leave, in order to avoid retrenchment. “An employer should also be in the position to negotiate unpaid leave or salary reductions during the lockdown period in an attempt to save jobs,” Kirchner said. NegotiationAn employer must be in the position to negotiate a change of employment conditions with employees - before, during or after the lockdown period, as the organisational need might arise, Kirchner said. If an employer finds it necessary to dismiss an employee due to the discontinuance or reduction of business, then this should be possible within the confines of the Act.An employer also should also not be legally required to reinstate any employee if they have in fact legally retrenched the employee, at any one time, she said.“We call for genuine understanding in order to ensure - if not maximum then - optimal employment,” Kirchner said. “We plead for real comprehension of our situation. Employers cannot continue operating under current conditions. The notion that employers can now ‘pay back’ and continue financing employees regardless the business generating any income, is totally unrealistic,” she said.If the directive is to further restrict employers, to the extent that the proposed directive supersedes the stipulations of the Labour Act, it can “only lead to disastrous consequences”, Kirchner said.

‘Nail in construction’s coffin’

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Republikein 2025-09-08

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‘Nail in construction’s coffin’

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