Hartlief Continental Meat Products in Windhoek will resume operations on Monday after its employees went on strike two weeks ago.

The employees went on strike on December 28, 2021 after a deadlock in wage negotiations and equal working conditions.

Last Friday, Hartlief and the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) signed a substantive agreement for fiscal year 2022, which resulted in the strike being called off.

According to a joint press release, the two sides agreed to a base salary increase of N $ 770 for all members of the bargaining unit (BU).

“A six-month N $ 400 arrears will be paid on January 20, 2022, while a N $ 50 weekly performance incentive has been removed and replaced with a N $ 200 base salary increase. A monthly meat allowance of N $ 170 will be abolished and replaced with an increase of N $ 170 in basic salary, “the statement said.

According to the statement, future salary increases will be negotiated on a percentage basis.

Hartlief also agreed to make the pension contribution for all employees equal to 11%. In the past, the company had retirement disparities, with some employees paying 11% and others 8%.

No changes have been made to the housing allowance, which remains at N $ 1,770 for the majority of employees and N $ 500 for around 70 employees. Those who receive a housing allowance of N $ 500 are mainly former employees of Windhoek Schlachterei.

“No 13th check (bonus) will be paid in fiscal year 2022. In the future, the 13th check will be subject to company performance, while a monthly production and performance incentive system based on on the most critical key performance indicators (KPIs) will be co-designed between employer and employees, ”the statement said.

The parties have also agreed to withdraw all disputes filed with the Commissariat au travail.

Ruben Nghifimule, spokesperson for employees, said the deal aroused mixed emotions, especially over the disparity in housing allowance, mainly from former Windhoek Schlachterei staff.

“Employees are relatively happy with the pay increases, but they’re also not very happy with other aspects of the deal. This is not what they wanted, but they have to accept it because it was an exercise in collective bargaining, ”he said.

Nghifimule added that housing for former Windhoek Schlachterei employees will again be part of the 2022 salary negotiations which are due to start in April.