Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, Derek Klazen has bemoaned the emergence of unscrupulous companies in the fishing sector offering fishermen lofty dreams of greener pastures and disrupting government’s Employment Redress Program.
The programme reabsorbed fishermen who had lost their job in 2015 when more than 1000 fishermen were laid off for various reasons in the fishing sector.
Klazen noted last week that these disruptions have led to over 600 fishermen resigning from companies that they were placed by government to earn a living.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources became alive to the fact that there are companies without fishing quota operating in Walvis Bay luring some of these employees to joining their companies under prospects of better salaries that birthed the mass resignations from four companies, namely Cavema Fishing (Pty) Ltd Joint Venture; Camoposatu Investment (Pty) Ltd and Vernier Investment (Pty) Ltd and Hodago Fishing (Pty) Ltd Joint Venture and Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises (Pty) Ltd .
“The Ministry of fisheries and Marine Resources attempted to dissuade the resigning employees from uncoupling from their allocated companies but these pleas fell on deaf ears,” Klazen said further stating that the total number of fishermen employed by the two companies were 635 and 612 have tendered their resignation.
“There seem to exist a flawed understanding and perception amongst some of the affected fishermen that the fishing quota against which the employment of the affected employees has been secured is and remains the property of the affected workers and further that these quotas are transferable to wherever the employees want it to go. Obviously, that understanding negates the governments’ objective of ensuring employment for the affected workers and the maintenance of stability and job tenure security in the fishing industry,” Klazen said.
He went on to say that the regretful emergence of new companies claiming to offer these workers better salaries than what there are currently earning further compounds the problem in that they required the fishermen to resign, join a new company which company has no fishing right nor quota and no active employment.
“The Union leadership has also not been very helpful in advising its rank and file correctly regarding the consequences of their actions.”
As a remedial intervention, Klazen said the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources will after the completion of an employment verification audit, look at modalities how all the affected fishermen can find active duty-employment within the fishing industry.
“Additionally, my Ministry will begin with consultations with recognized Labour unions in the fishing sector in order to create the required understanding regarding the fishing quota redressing employment in the fishing industry and who owns these quotas. Also, my Ministry will continue to encourage the affected workers to guard their jobs against unscrupulous elements offering them lofty dreams of greener pastures while ensuring the return of normalcy and stability within the fishing industry regarding jobs by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Offices of the Regional Governors for Erongo and //Kharas and the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation.
“Above all these my Ministry, the Ministry of Labour Industrial Relations and Employment Creation will begin with negotiations with the companies involved with the view to requesting the companies to re-instate the workers and the workers to withdraw their letters of resignations,” said Klazen.
He also said that since the re-employment of some of these fishermen in 2015, not all of them have taken up active employment simply because the industry has no actual work for them to render on factory or vessels.
“Those who could not be absorbed as active employees remained on the companies’ payroll and continued to receiving a basic salary of N$4000. Conversely, some found active placements and continue to render their services in the various fisheries sectors aboard vessels or on the factory floor. To date, the Ministry remains seized with the matter aimed at finding active employment for the affected people including the duty placement of a further 212 employees who lost their jobs as a result of abandonment and abscondment of Icelandic fishing companies’ vessels, Salga and Geysir.
“As an additional measure, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources is planning to conduct a verification audit to establishing the total number of fishermen employed under the Government Employment Redress Program who have not taken up active employment meaning being paid while not in full active service with the view to looking at new modalities of finding them active-duty employment,” Klazen said.