Tomorrow, all roads lead to the Oshakati Sports Stadium as the Oshana Region hosts this year's International Workers' Day commemoration.

Observed on May 1st, the day, otherwise known as May Day, signifies the struggles and contributions of workers while celebrating the labour movement's role in shaping the fight for independence and social justice and acknowledging ongoing challenges to guaranteeing workers' rights.

This year, the day will be commemorated under the theme "Workers demand justice through natural resources, beneficiation value addition, living wages and youth employment."

In an interview on NBC's Namibia Connects programme, the Secretary General of the National Union of Namibian Workers said the theme specifically targets young people, as the most capable to work.

Job Muniaro says the theme further calls for value addition of the country's resources, which he said would result in products and services becoming more affordable to Namibians.

"The theme was not taken deliberately, but it was taken because we all know that Namibia is one of the rich countries, and we can only benefit if we add value to these resources, and it's not just a thing of waking up and adding value; it's a process where we have to change the school curriculum to fit the value addition processes of resources and productions in order to create more jobs so we stop exporting jobs from other countries."

Muniaro added that much is left to be done in terms of training and upskilling towards achieving substantive value addition and deriving beneficiation from the country's resources.

"We need a lot of things; we need the safety of workers at workplaces to be there. The issue of technology is becoming a problem; we can only do it if we empower our people rather than getting foreigners to address it."

He urged employers to adhere to and implement the set minimum wage in the country.

"More especially the security companies, the biggest sector that has tenders with the government, but the employees are not getting close to minimum wage. How are security guards not paid for 6 months? Some only get 1000, and some are deducted for uniforms, and they don't even fit, and you're deducting them for 10 years or deducting union fees when there is nothing. Those are the challenges and ignorance we face, and the government needs to take steps because it's a high exploitation. Even farmers' workers are suffering under our own people. How do we alleviate poverty if we can't do these things right? There are so many things that we need to discuss around the table."

The Secretary General says the NUNW will continue to advocate for workers' rights and demand for workers to receive ongoing upskill training to meet job markets' demands.