If the Windhoek Schlachterei business was an animal carcass it would never pass the EU standard of de-boned meat. In its past 25 years of operation, the business has accumulated N$14 million in losses.

There have been about four years - now and then- where it made profit. But in the last 18 years there have been 23 managing directors and general managers each trying their hands on coming up with a perfect cut that is profitable.

No one seems to be able to de-bone Windhoek Schlachterei of its losses. Then along comes a new butcher in the name of Andy Roberts, the chief operating officer at Ohlthaver & List Group, which owns the business.

Roberts, together with Anton Westraadt and Berthold Mukuahima, are overseeing the restructuring process at Windhoek Schlachterei.

This is the process from which the O&L group expects to turn the business into a profitable entity. Whether this possible remains to be seen. What is certain now is that the Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (NAFAU), which represents the workers, is not happy that about 30 workers will lose their jobs in the newly restructured business.

The O&L group declared all 93 positions at the company redundant in January this year. Everyone, from the general manager to the cleaner, was asked to re-apply in the newly restructured company with effect from 1 March this year.

The reasons, says Roberts, is because the business will now focus on production and marketing to create new markets that would absorb the volumes produced. Functions such as of dispatching and related logistics will be shifted to Namibia Dairies, the other O&L subsidiary.

Yet even Roberts himself seems half assured about the ability to turn the Windhoek Schlachterei into a profit making business. “It is a big step. We are not sure if it is going to work,” he said.

But they believe they have a viable business with quality products. So they will give it a try. The unions, however, believe that the solutions lie in finding someone who is capable of running the business. In fact, they are simply saying that the management should not blame the foot-soldiers for the transgressions done by former general managers. “We demand the resignation of the current managing director of Windhoek Schlachterei without further delay,” the unions said in a petition.

The fight has now gone to involve the Labour Commissioner, Bro Mathew Shingwandja, and the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Alpheus !Naruseb. The Labour Commissioner has instructed the O&L to stop the restructuring process. The ministry has summoned the O&L group to a meeting scheduled for next week. The meeting will also be attended by NAFAU and the Labour Commissioner.

Traditionally, preparing meat was never a difficult task irrespective of the culture. Kosher and Halaal aside, you simply slaughter the beast in question, remove the skin, cut the carcass in smaller pieces and voilà, meat. This simple errand has seemingly become an insurmountable task at the Windhoek Schlachterei.

Listening to arguments from both the union and the O&L management, this is a fight between the butcher and his helpers over how many hands he need when cutting the meat. In this case, the butcher wants to reduce the number of helpers while the unions maintain that the butcher needs all the helping hands he has. Whether a perfect cut will be found remains to be seen.