Fiji: Sugar Mills Workers Are Still Under Pressure by the Regime
This is a cross-post from the International Trade Union Confederation ( ITUC ).
The state-owned Fiji Sugar Corp. (FSC) continues to refuse to negotiate with workers over wages and working conditions—the last wage increase being more than seven years ago. Despite FSC management threats, and the presence of the police and military during the strike vote, workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
Even with the intervention by the International Labor Organization, urging respect for the workers’ right to freedom of association, the regime has only ratcheted up the pressure. Management is now warning workers that they would not be allowed to return to work if they go on strike and that they would be dealt with by the military. To back up these threats, two truckloads of military officers drove into Lautoka Mill on Aug. 21 to “inspect” the mill. The attorney general himself also has warned the union he would break the strike by bringing in replacement workers to keep the mills running.
“The international community must reject these latest violations by the Fiji regime. In particular, we call on the companies and NGOs involved in the Fiji sugar industry to publicly denounce this situation and use their leverage to bring the regime to the negotiating table,” said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC. “Continued collaboration with this industry is becoming less and less tenable by the day.”
