Furnmart strike: Workers demand 8% wage hike
Furnmart and Home Corp Namibia employees have launched a strike following a deadlock in wage negotiations, demanding an 8% salary increase and housing allowances. They are accusing their employer of paying ‘poverty wages’, saying mounting financial pressures are contributing to what they describe as financial depression and other mental health challenges among staff. These claims […] The post Furnmart strike: Workers demand 8% wage hike appeared first on The Namibian .
Furnmart and Home Corp Namibia employees have launched a strike following a deadlock in wage negotiations, demanding an 8% salary increase and housing allowances.
They are accusing their employer of paying ‘poverty wages’, saying mounting financial pressures are contributing to what they describe as financial depression and other mental health challenges among staff.
These claims are contained in a petition handed over to the retailer’s management yesterday, as workers continued to push for a salary increase and the introduction of a monthly housing allowance of N$500.
The petition, submitted by a group of employees with the support of the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union, says workers are struggling to cope with rising transport costs, increasing rental prices and stagnant wages.
“Consequently, the majority of us suffer from financial depression and other mental health issues because of these poverty wages,” the petition states.
The workers say wage negotiations between the union and Furnmart and Home Corp’s management began last August, but failed to produce an agreement on salary increments and housing benefits.
The matter was subsequently referred to the Labour Commission, which issued a certificate of unresolved dispute after the parties failed to reach consensus. Employees later voted in favour of a strike.
