Employees of Finestar Jewellery & Diamonds Namibia say they have not been allowed to eat meat at work for the past five years because of the company’s vegetarian culture.
Finestar Jewellery & Diamonds Namibia, located in Prosperita in Windhoek, is owned by Finestar Jewellery & Diamonds Pvt Ltd, a diamond manufacturing company based in India.
Finestar employee Beverly Katjingisiua says workers reached an agreement with the company to receive a food allowance in exchange for not bringing meat to work.
However, she says the company has not increased their food allowance for the past five years, despite repeated negotiations.
“It is their culture; they don’t eat meat, and they are vegetarian,” she told The Namibian during a protest on Tuesday, where workers demanded better wages, food and transport allowances, and improved working conditions.
Katjingisiua said employees can eat meat at home but are not allowed to bring it to work.
She said the restrictions have affected workers, including pregnant women and employees who are sick or taking medication.
Another employee, Matild Bohitile, says the company initially told workers they had to follow a vegetarian diet at work.
“At the beginning they told us to be vegetarian, and then we said that in Namibia we eat meat. We took the matter to the union, and they said they [Finestar] does not have the right to stop us from eating meat, but they do it internally,” she says.
Bohitile says the restriction on eating meat is not included in their employment contracts.
“The way we are eating meat is like we are thieves in our own country, like slaves,” she says.
Other employees say they often bring macaroni and pap to work, while management eats its preferred meals.
“We bring macaroni, pap tomato sauce and mayonnaise, but then they [the bosses] eat their traditional food each and every day,” they say.
The complaints come as Finestar employees have downed tools over wages, allowances and working conditions.
Katjingisiua said the company has offered workers an increase of N$8, which they must choose to receive either as a food or transport allowance.
She said employees have repeatedly raised their concerns during negotiations, but the company has not addressed them.
On Wednesday, Mineworkers Union of Namibia secretary general George Ampweya, whose union represents the employees, said it would assess the situation before commenting further.
“We did like to assess the situation for a while and engage you should such a need arise,” he said.
Finestar did not respond to questions sent by The Namibian on food options at the time of publication.
However, the company describes the strike as “unlawful” and that it is consulting with its employees and other stakeholders for further mediation regarding the challenges that were brought to the company’s attention.
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