Fish catches were rotting away since some 300 factory workers of NovaNam in Lüderitz went on strike on 28 June, according to Dr Abraham Iyambo. The fisheries minister held urgent talks over the weekend with unions and the Spanish owners of the company, before addressing the workers on Tuesday. A worker allegedly stabbed his female supervisor to death after she caused his suspension from work. "After I heard that this man was regarded as a ‘hero’ by some fellow workers, I saw it fit to hold talks with all stakeholders being unions, employers and employees", Minister Iyambo told reporters on Wednesday. He condemned the murder as a ‘criminal act’ and said the different parties should respect each other and only use company procedures and the Labour Act stipulations to settle grievances. On Thursday the first few hundred of some 2000, NovaNam labourers resumed work. The strike caused the company about N$ 1 million losses each day, coming to almost N$ 10 million.