400 mill workers walk-off their jobs
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IN May 1984, more than 400 tradesmen and general employees at the Penang and Lautoka sugar mills walked off their jobs after Fiji Sugar Corporation stood down some of their fellow workers at Penang in Rakiraki.
This was reported in
May 22, 1984.
Employees doing similar work at the Rarawai (Ba) and Labasa mills met to discuss the issue and were ready to walk out too.
FSC managers, officials of four employee unions, Tripartite Forum secretary, Mr Wing Kangwai and the independent chairman of the sugar industry, Mr Gerald Barrack, held a series of late meetings in a desperate attempt to resolve the weeklong dispute between growers, unions and the FSC, which had stalled cane harvest at two mills.
The then new Leader of the Opposition, Mr Siddiq Koya, who was also the president of the Joint Committee of Canegrowers’ Associations, was optimistic the dispute would be resolved.
“I expect everything to be settled within days. Definitely it will be over,” he told The Fiji Times.
The acting Prime Minister, Ratu David Toganivalu, appealed to all sections of the sugar industry to resolve their disputes as soon as possible so that cane harvesting could start.
He reminded them that the interests of all the parties should be considered when negotiating a settlement.
FSC chief executive, Mr Rasheed Ali, said there was very little work available for the stood-down employees.
“When they reported to work at Penang a large number were told they would be paid attendance money of two and a half hours pay and stood down,” he said.
This arrangement was to continue daily while the FSC watched negotiations between canegrowers and the unions.
“But the unions told us that unless we could provide work for everyone, no one
The Fiji Times on would stay back. This afternoon there was a sympathy walkout in Lautoka,” Mr Ali continued.
He said he didn’t know whether the employees would return to work in the morning.
Officials of the Fiji Sugar Tradesman Union and the Fiji Sugar and General Workers Union said they walked off their jobs in sympathy with the Penang members.
Mr Barrack told The Fiji Times that one of the unions, the Sugar Milling Staff Officers’ Association had agreed to accept the decision of the Tripartite Forum’s Ability to Pay Committee for its 1983 pay increase.
It would then accept the 1984 Tripartite Forum wage increment guideline and no other fringe benefits, he said.
In return, the staff officers had agreed to also take “no unilateral industrial action during the growing season”.
Apart from the Sugar Milling Staff Association, problems still remained with the other three worker unions, Mr Barrack said.