Justicia Shipena
The High Court will this week deliver judgement in the dispute between the Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored) and the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) over a planned strike.
Nored approached the Labour Court last month on an urgent basis to stop the strike. The utility warned that the industrial action could disrupt electricity supply across large parts of northern Namibia.
The dispute began after wage negotiations for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years collapsed.
Talks started in June 2025 and reached a deadlock in September 2025 after several meetings. Last Friday, workers issued a notice of strike action.
MUN, which represents Nored employees, has accused management of intimidation aimed at preventing workers from exercising their right to strike.
Nored argues that the strike is unlawful. Nored states that the dispute was referred under the wrong section of the Labour Act and that Nored provides essential services.
Nored maintains disputes involving essential services must be resolved through compulsory arbitration under section 78 of the Labour Act, not through conciliation and strike procedures under section 74.
According to court documents, Nored and MUN signed a recognition and procedural agreement in 2017, allowing the union to negotiate wages on behalf of workers. After talks failed, MUN referred a dispute of interest to the labour commissioner in October 2025 under section 74.
A conciliation meeting took place on 31 October 2025. No agreement was reached, and a certificate of unresolved dispute was issued. The parties then agreed to engage on strike rules.
Nored later objected when the labour commissioner scheduled an arbitration hearing for January 2026. The company argued that the dispute had been incorrectly referred and should fall under section 78 because of its essential service status.
The conciliator declined to rule on the objection and proceeded to determine the strike rules under section 74. Nored says this was unlawful and outside the conciliator’s authority. Nored stated that strike rules were finalised in its absence on 16 January 2026 despite its request for a postponement.
Later that day, Nored received notice from MUN that a strike would begin on 22 January 2026. The utility warned that it would approach the court if the strike was not halted.
MUN represents about 225 of Nored’s 253 employees, close to 89% of the workforce. Nored says it cannot operate effectively with less than 10% of its staff and would fail to meet its obligation to supply electricity to northern regions.
Nored is seeking a rule nisi calling on MUN to show why an order should not be granted preventing the strike until proceedings before the labour commissioner under chapter 8 of the Labour Act are finalised.
Nored is also asking for condonation for not fully complying with standard court rules, citing urgency.
MUN has opposed the application and asked the Labour Court to dismiss it. In its heads of argument, the union says the strike is lawful and that Nored failed to meet the requirements for an urgent interdict.
MUN rejects Nored’s claim that the dispute was incorrectly referred and argues that the Labour Court lacks jurisdiction to grant the interdict.
MUN says workers in technical and maintenance roles fall under essential services, while employees in administrative, financial and corporate roles do not. It states that the strike will involve only non-essential staff, with essential services continuing as required by law.
The union also says Nored previously acknowledged this distinction and only raised the issue of essential services in January 2026, shortly before approaching the court. It argues that any urgency was created by Nored’s own actions and disputes claims of irreparable harm, saying essential services will continue and some non-essential staff will remain on duty.
MUN has asked the court to dismiss the application with costs, stating that the case is intended to delay a lawful strike rather than resolve the dispute.
The High Court will decide this week whether the strike may proceed.
