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20 June, 2011
A strike by over 200 militants of the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers’ Union (MANWU) from 6-9 June succeeded in winning salary and housing increases at the companies of the Plastic Packaging Group, a polymer manufacturing and recycling chain of companies that operates in Namibia, Angola, and the Northern Cape of South Africa.
At Namibian workplaces in Windhoek and Okahandja, striking MANWU workers forced company managers back to the bargaining table on 9 June, where they increased a previously unacceptable pay and housing allowance offer. The bargaining was aided by mediation from the Namibian Labour Commissioner’s office, which on 23 May had declared the collective agreement unresolved.
The strike caused Plastic Packaging managers to raise a prior and combined 12% offer closer to the 19% demands of workers. The compromise agreement will give each worker an N$280 (€29) monthly pay and housing increase retroactive to March of this year.
The dispute was fraught with charges and counter-charges of threats and intimidation on shop stewards who were calling for the strike. The Plastic Packaging Group is Namibia’s only maker and distributor of polymer packaging products. It consists of Plastic Packaging Namibia, Polyoak Packaging Namibia, and Namibia Polymer Recyclers, as well as Plastic Packaging Cape and Agno Plastics.
MANWU is affiliated to the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF).