Sugar workers in Karnataka and Maharashtra in India are holding rolling demonstrations to protest the announcement by the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) that sugar mill engineers will be brought to Fiji from India to break the strike by the IUF-affiliated Fiji Sugar and General Workers’ Union (FSGWU) [1].
In a statement released on Friday the Karnataka Sugar Workers Federation (KSWF), an affiliate of the IUF, denounced FSC plans to break the strike using engineers from India and declared solidarity for the FSGWU. The KSWF also condemned FSC management’s use of the military to suppress the strike [2].
A protest letter will be submitted to state and central government authorities in India next week.
Protest action by Karnataka Sugar Mill Workers Union of Shree Someshwar Cooperative Sugar Mill, Belwadi, a member of the IUF -affiliated KSWF