Our Objectives

Recruiting, organizing, representing and retaining members.

Negotiating and bargaining on behalf of members and promoting equality.

Campaigning, advocating and promoting BAWON on behalf of members.

Developing an efficient and effective union.

OBJECTIVE 1

Recruiting, organising, representing and retaining members

1.1      We will grow stronger as an organising union by:

• increasing the union’s influence in private companies, the community and the voluntary sector.
• maximising recruitment performance and gaining a better understanding of the reasons for non-membership. We will support all branches/regions to strengthen their organising capacity, and will ensure that they have the resources needed to meet workplace organising targets.
• promoting patriotism, activism and unity amongst union members for optimum union force.
• restructuring the organisational system and decentralising operations to empower and give greater control to the individual regions.
• increasing the diversity, number and percentage of trained workplace representatives and providing development pathways linked to national standards.
• investigating the barriers and incentives related to improving recruitment performance. We aim to improve access to and distribution of time off facilities and secure improvements to the legal framework.
• achieving greater member participation and engagement through improved access to union information and resources.

1.2      BAWON will improve representation by:

• increasing member participation, in particular at branch, department and agency levels, including achieving increased turnout in national elections and ballots.
• operating an efficient and effective casework management system
• implementing a new and responsive member complaints/feedback procedure.

OBJECTIVE 2

Negotiating and bargaining on behalf of members and promoting equality

2.1      BAWON will:

• combat low pay and negotiate improved pay and conditions.
• deliver fair and equal pay across all sectors and bargaining groups of the financial industry.
• secure quality and non-discriminatory pension schemes which are governed in the best interests of members.
• promote employer implementation of lifelong learning, skills pathways and workforce development for its employees.

2.2      The union will provide effective bargaining and support services to members; including expert support in procurement processes aimed at securing employer compliance with statutory guidance to prevent a two-tier workforce; ensuring long term job security and avoiding enforced redundancies.

2.3      BAWON will promote equality, and challenge discrimination in the workplace, using relevant equality legislation.

OBJECTIVE 3

Campaigning and promoting BAWON on behalf of members

3.1      BAWON campaigns for rights at work to:

• eliminate discrimination in the workplace
• improve working lives and work-life balance
• extend collective rights in line with Namibian Labour Law and other laws, ILO conventions, and the UN convention on social, economic and cultural rights.

3.2      We will maximise our political influence by:

• ensuring effective and co-ordinated use of political fund resources
• improving political engagement at local, regional and national levels to support new or existing government policies in favour of the BAWON membership.
• promoting our key objectives as they relate to or align with the greater global financial industry.

OBJECTIVE 4

Developing an Efficient and Effective Union

4.1      We will improve our regional, branch, department and agency group structures by implementing the decisions of the 2013 National Congress.

4.2      We will improve the management, development and diversity of staff by:

• developing our workforce regionally and nationally to maximise resources on BAWON’s organising and campaigning objectives
• improving work-life balance policies for staff to enhance flexible working while ensuring that services to branches and members are maintained and improved.

4.3      We will improve our IT, organisational and financial systems by:

• developing the Evidence-Based Management System (EBMS) as the union’s core organisational database and communications channel for the recording, processing and storage of membership and income records; for e-communications with members, activists and staff; and for organising information to support the recruitment and retention of members.
• developing the EBMS to improve membership data accuracy; income collection and allocation and branch accessibility, and promote online member recruitment.
• using new and developing technology to further integrate BAWON’s Information and Communications Technology(ICT) to improve communications and information management and maximise the use of e-communications throughout the union.

Our Members

As a registered trade union which represents employees in Banking and non-banking financial Institutions, our focus as a union is on: promoting, improving and maintaining the conditions of employment, sound labour relations and the financial well-being of all our members are secure. BAWON’s scope of representation includes:

Banks, Insurance Companies, Insurance Brokers, Stock Exchange, Stock Brokers, Auditors and Accountants, Asset Management Companies, Unit Trust, Pension Fund, Medical Aid Funds, Money Lenders, Estate Agents and Bureau de Change etc.

Our Activists

Workplace Union Representative/ Shop Steward

Our volunteer Workplace Union Representatives (WUR) play a vital day-to-day role in helping BAWON members. They help members by giving advice and answering questions; organising meetings; acting as spokesperson; recruiting new members; running ballots; and publicising campaigns. 

Workplace Union Representative/ Shop Steward

Our volunteer workplace reps play a vital day-to-day role in helping BAWON members.

They are organisers who talk to, recruit and organise members around workplace issues, hold meetings, undertake surveys and help run ballots.

They give members information about union issues by publicising BAWON campaigns, distributing leaflets and keeping members informed about and involved in local negotiations.

They are advisers and sounding boards, talking to members about workplace problems and – if they feel confident – giving advice on how to deal with these.

Alternatively, they may arrange for the member to get advice or assistance from elsewhere in the union, or work with them to get the information they need.

They are representatives and spokespersons for members in their workplace.

Reps also act as a link between members, other union representatives and the national organisation.

Where the union has a recognition agreement, stewards, health and safety reps have a legal right to ‘reasonable’ time off for union duties. Good recognition agreements may also allow some time off for union activities – rather than duties – but it will depend on the particular agreement and employer.

Support is available for BAWON reps from your branch, department, agency and region, as well as more experienced full time union officials, and every quarter they runs training courses for reps throughout the year.

Key roles

            Workplace contact person

            Elected workplace union representatives

            Health and safety representatives

Workplace contact

The role of a workplace contact is to let your branch know what’s happening in your workplace, and to help the union get messages to its members. It’s a good learning opportunity and starting point to get involved in the union. They:

• Share information with colleagues and other BAWON members
• Keep notice boards up to date with BAWON information
• Have regular conversations with members in the workplace
• Support people looking to join BAWON

Workplace contacts can and do play an important role in helping groups of members to organise effectively.

Elected workplace union representative / shop stewards

Workplace union representative/ stewards are the heart of our trade union. BAWON’s stewards are the reason we win campaigns that result in better lives for our members and all working people. Stewards help to organise your colleagues into an effective, strong and welcoming membership. They:

• Are the first point of contact for members in a workplace
• Talk to members about the union
• Talk to staff about their issues
• Offer advice on issues at work
• Represent members in cases (including at disciplinary and grievance hearings).
• Campaign for better working conditions
• Recruit and organise new members
• Encourage more members to get active in BAWON
• Raise your members’ issues with the branch.

Stewards in workplaces where BAWON is recognised by the employer have rights to time off for training and to carry out their work.

Stewards have a right to be involved in how their branch is run and are the most important link between the members and the union.

BAWON aims to have at least one steward in each workplace and department, more in larger departments and where members work shifts.

Stewards are elected every two years by the group of members that they represent and the post is open to job share.

Health and safety reps

Health and safety representatives care about workers’ safety and campaign for better working conditions. They play a vital role in keeping our members healthy and safe at work. They:

• investigate potential hazards
• consult members on working conditions
• lobby your employer to improve safety
• support members with complaints about safety
• recruit new members
• identify members who could become more involved in health and safety issues.

Safety representatives have specific duties and responsibilities and also have important legal rights. A health and safety representative has the right to training and to raise issues which affect the health and safety of members.

Our Structure

BAWON – is essentially a voluntary organisation – in which elected members organise a range of activities on behalf of their fellow members – with the assistance of a team of full-time staff who provide administrative, technical and professional support to the Shop Stewards and the Executives members.

The presence of a BAWON Representative in workplaces organised by the Union is the key feature in its structure. In larger employments – with many workplace locations – these representatives are co-ordinated by elected Shop Stewards, workplace contacts and activists.

 The activities of these representatives are, in turn, co-ordinated by the National Executive members – who, when acting collectively, is also responsible for the management of the affairs of the Union. The Executive Committee reports to the annual national conference and that of the congress.  

 The National Executive Committee also appoints the key Union staff –the Secretary General. The Secretary General in-turn–will appoints from within its own ranks those employees who will serve with the Secretary General to run the operation. Following is the BAWON structure:

[1]       Congress

[2]       Central Committee

[3]       National Executive Committee (NEC)

[4]       Shop Steward Committee

[5]       Research, Recruitment and Advocacy Committee

[6]       Office of the Secretary General

[7]       BAWON Youth League

BAWON Structure

[1]       Congress

[2]       Central Committee

[3]       National Executive Committee (NEC)

[4]       Shop Steward Committee

[5]       Research, Recruitment and Advocacy Committee

[6]       Office of the Secretary General

[7]       BAWON Youth League

Our Affiliation

In order to advance the interests of its members, BAWON co-operates with like-minded organisations at both national and international level. In the national context, these are bodies which bring together trade unions and workers’ associations on a cross-sectorial basis. Internationally, BAWON seeks to develop relationships with trade unions operating specifically in the financial services sector and that of other sectors.

BAWON is a proud member of the Trade Union Congress of Namibia (TUCNA). TUCNA is an independent federation that represents the interests of workers in the following sectors: public service, health, wholesalers and retail, banking and finance, fishing, transport and airlines, tourism and informal sector, fuel and energy, construction and mining, sports and security, local authority, education and communication and more.

Democracy and elections

BAWON is proud to be a “member-led union”. Democracy is central to our structure and our achievements have been reached as a representative, democratic union where everyone has an equal voice.

All members have a right to make the decisions which determine the work we do. This ties in with our key principles.

• Equality – we all deserve to be treated with respect and fairness.
• Solidarity – we support each other at work and in society.
• Democracy – members each have a right to make the decisions that shape their union.
• Participation – we share our skills, commitment and creativity to build a stronger union.

Branches, departments and agencies, can develop policy within their own ‘sphere of influence’. This means they develop and promote policy according to the needs of their own members, as long as these comply with BAWON’s rules.

We make decisions by voting to elect members to particular positions within BAWON and to decide policy.

As a member of BAWON, you could stand for election to a number of different bodies:

Central Committee (CC), National Executive Committee (NEC), Research, Recruitment and Advocacy (RRA) Committee or Workplace Union Representative (WUR) Committee.

Equality is at the heart of the union’s beliefs. Since women make up two thirds of the BAWON’s membership, two-thirds of all of the union’s elected bodies must be women. We call this proportionality.

BAWON holds elections for its national executive committee (NEC), central committee (CC), research, recruitment and advocacy (RRA) committee. These decide on issues and campaigns, oversee the running of the union and works with BAWON staff to support members. They represent BAWON to the wider world.

NEC members are elected every three years by all eligible members of BAWON via a postal ballot.

Conferences

Every year, delegates from all over Namibia are elected by their branch, department or agency to the national delegate conference. This is where we vote to decide our policies and campaigning priorities.

If a member wants to develop a policy by having a motion considered and adopted by a the national delegate conference or relevant service group conference, they can once they have:

• made sure they have support from other members in their branch, by having it adopted at a branch meeting;
• submitted the motion to the relevant conference.

BAWON Constitution