Select Page

Standard Bank and Union ink wage agreement

Standard Bank and Union ink wage agreement

Standard Bank’s Chief Executive Vetumbuavi Mungunda (left) on Wednesday officially signed the salaries and benefits agreement with the Secretary General of the Bank Workers Union of Namibia (BAWON), Thomas Muchima.

The bank’s employees will receive a 7.10% average increase for the financial year March 2017 to February 2018. The agreement was reached after just two days of amicable discussions.

“It is commendable to note that during the past four years, the parties have successfully negotiated a mutually beneficial agreement in an amicable and cordial manner. This is a clear demonstration of a trust relationship between the Bank, our staff members and BAWON as representatives of the employees. In order to solidify this partnership, we will continue with our culture of openly engaging with BAWON on matters of mutual interest for the benefit of our employees and the Bank,” said Mungunda.

He noted that the “Namibian economy is currently faced with serious headwinds characterised by a slowdown in the mining, agriculture and construction industries, compounded by the regional drought and government consolidation efforts constraining the performance of the domestic economic activities. It is also pleasing to note the parties recognised these economic realities as foundation and point of departure for the negotiations.”

Standard Bank employs over 1700 employees making it one of the larger employers in the economy. Other benefits granted during the year includes subsidised loan facilities for housing and vehicle loans to staff members as well the newly reviewed medical aid arrangements in response to requests by BAWON and the employees.

“As we continue to improve the salary and benefit structures of our employees, I want to call on our employees to adopt an entrepreneurial mind-set found on accountability and an ownership culture. With the above, the payback or return on investment to the company, employee and community is inevitable as performance and productivity increase,” said Mungunda.

On his part, Secretary General of BAWON Thomas Muchima said that the negotiations went well with both parties agreeing on a win-win situation.

Standard Bank’s latest salary increment is announced despite the increasingly challenging climate faced by banks to maintain business growth and sustainability where all parties considered the welfare of the employees, taking into account issues such as the rising cost of living and inflation.

This was the third wage and benefits agreement witnessed by Mungunda and overall the sixth consecutive year that Standard Bank and BAWON successfully negotiated a salary and benefits agreement without resorting to any dispute resolution process.

About The Author

The Staff Reporter

The staff reporter is the most senior in-house Economist reporter. This designation is frequently used by the editor for articles submitted by third parties, especially businesses, but which had to be rewritten completely. - Ed.