‘We are fishermen, not factory workers’

Two hundred and ninety workers employed as part of a government initiative at Hangana Seafood staged a march and handed over a petition to the company and the ministry of fisheries and marine resources.

The aggrieved workers expressed their dissatisfaction with the alleged poor conditions of employment at the company in Walvis Bay.

The protest action was staged after Hangana allegedly failed to deliver on its promise to reinstate the 290 project employees as fishermen at sea and not as factory workers.

According to the group, the company is allegedly hiring new workers to work at sea while they are left to work as fish processors in the factory.

Breach of agreement

The group's spokesperson, Blasius Shilula, said they believe that the company is not being fair towards them in its implementation of the employment agreement.

"We are disappointed with the conditions of employment following the agreement we had with the government to reinstate us in 2021. Hangana Seafood received quotas from the government to reinstate us on a permanent basis.

“However, the sad truth is that the group was recruited as fish processors in 2021. This was said to be temporary for six months while the company secures enough vessels for us to work at sea. We are fishermen, not factory workers," he said.

According to Shilula, the employees actively work in the factory and not at sea and started with a basic salary of N$4 000 for five months.

"This is less than that paid to other fish processors in Hangana. Efforts to engage the government through its line ministry, the ministry of fisheries and marine resources and Hangana Seafood were merely effective and resulted only in an increased basic salary of N$5 600 in 2022."

Demands

The group demanded that Hangana Seafood reinstate them as fishermen actively working at sea and not as fish processors at the factory. They also called on the company to stop recruiting new fishermen while keeping them on as factory workers.

"We request that the ministry of fisheries and the ministry of labour monitor governmental projects of this nature to ensure that resources benefit the intended recipients on time as per agreements. We want a response from the company’s managing director within seven days," Shilula said.

Hangana's employee relations manager, Nelson Muhepa, received the petition. A second petition was handed over to Luis Vaendwanawa, the marine superintendent in the ministry of fisheries.

In 2021, the government successfully facilitated the employment of over 1 000 fishermen, including numerous fired seafarers who went on a wildcat strike in 2015, as well as those who lost their jobs after Namsov’s quota was cut.

The process started in 2019 and was concluded with the employment of 290 fishermen who were taken in by Hangana Seafood.

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