Sep 25, 2025 (The Namibian/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
The Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored) has been warned not to engage workers on wage negotiations without the union's presence.
This comes after Nored acting chief executive Lucas Siremo, in a letter seen by The Namibian, notified employees of a planned meeting on 24 September.
The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) northern leadership rejected the meeting notice in a letter to Nored on Monday.
MUN secretary general George Ampweya has confirmed the authenticity of the letter from the northern branch.
In the letter, the union demands a 6% wage increment while the electricity distributor is not willing to give anything.
"This is especially unacceptable in light of your own prior assurance that the company has the capacity to implement a 6% wage increment.
To now retreat from that position is not only deceitful but amounts to negotiating in bad faith.
"We further condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the unlawful and deliberate attempts by management to bypass the union and meet with our members directly," reads the letter from the union.
The union describes the company's conduct of holding a meeting with its members as a blatant violation of the Labour Act, the recognition agreement and the principles of fair labour relations.
"Let it be clear: any attempt to interfere with, intimidate or undermine our members during these negotiations will be treated as union-busting and met with the full force of the law," reads the notice.
The union states that it will not hesitate to mobilise, escalate, and take all necessary legal and industrial action to protect the rights and dignity of its members if management persists with their current approach.
The employees at Outapi, Ondangwa, Rundu and Katima Mulilo have threatened to stage a demonstration.
Nored spokesperson Simon Lukas says no communication was issued to employees regarding their attendance at the wage negotiations.
"It is an indisputable fact that wage negotiations are handled by the Nored negotiation team and the union and not by management.
Therefore, the Nored negotiation team will engage the union to discuss the matters related to wage negotiations," he says.
He adds that the union, through the northern branch, requested official communication from management regarding the board's decision concerning the wage demand submission.
Thus, on 19 September, he says, the official communication was sent to the union as requested.
Lukas says Nored's management has stated its intention to engage and update all staff on the financial position of the company, specifically with the ongoing concern.
The intention, he says, is for the employees to know how the company has been performing financially, how the team must work together, and to ensure that the company remains sustainable.
"No meeting has been set yet for this engagement," Lukas says.
The Nored board of directors held a meeting on 10 and 12 September, where this and other matters affecting the organisation were discussed and resolved.
In a letter dated 19 September, the board resolves that its mandate as communicated between March and April remains.
The decision was that there would be no salary increase for the 2024/2025 financial year, no 14th cheque to be paid in lieu of a 2024/2025 salary increase and a 3% salary increase across the board for the 2025/2026 financial year.
"This is due to only having a tariff increase of 3.8% from the Electricity Control Board, having deferred income of N$195 million (customer money used)," reads the letter.
COMTEX_469043823/2029/2025-09-25T15:06:36
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