Marco Fishing locks out 300 workers

About 300 Marco Fishing employees have been locked out after wage negotiations between the company and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) reached a deadlock.

The lockout started on Friday and remains in effect.

Marco chief executive Steven Rajzman says the company cannot meet the union’s demands because average longline hake catches have declined by more than 45% over the past five years, placing its operations under severe financial pressure.

“While Marco Fishing fully respects the rights of employees and organised labour to engage in collective bargaining, these increases cannot be accommodated, and even more so under the current financial realities facing the business,” Rajzman says.

Nafau is demanding a one-year agreement that includes N$800 plus a fish commission for seagoing personnel, resulting in N$1 100, while land-based employees would receive N$27 per hour, in addition to transport, housing and other allowances.