Trade unions should reposition themselves to become relevant beyond the workplace.

This is one of the recommendations contained in a report on the impact of COVID-19 on workers and trade unions.

Namibia, like most developing countries, was unprepared when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

A report by the Labor Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) revealed that the virus caused havoc.

Employees fell sick, and many others died.

The implications that came from the disruption of economic activities meant that trade unions had to step up, even though they had no contingency plan.

The situation was made worse by policy responses such as movement restrictions and the banning of public gatherings.

"Unions were challenged not to render services to workers. If unions can't render services to workers, it means that it will be difficult to organize workers; the essence of their existence is greatly undermined. The pandemic disrupted the relationship," said Dr Kola Omomowo, an associate at LaRRI.

During the pandemic, trade unions lost a lot of members, he added, but they also gained some new ones.

"Workers who were not organized were eager to join the union because they saw that the union was there to represent those of them who were their members. In other sectors, the union lost a lot of their members because they could not access those services."

The report recommended that unions reposition themselves as pressure groups to be able to legally engage on national socio-economic and human development issues.

It was also suggested that they create social policy and social protection desks to engage broadly with stakeholders on national social welfare policies and programs.

The Deputy Executive Director in the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation, Lydia Indombo, said the findings and recommendations will ensure that labor unions are not caught off guard in the case of another global crisis.

"There is no doubt that history will judge 2021 to be a remarkably important year for setting national crisis-related agendas on how to deal with unexpected crises such as COVID-19 in the future."