Fiji update - Military moves into sugar mills

As the anti-union actions of the Fijian military dictatorship continue (click here [1] for details and link to urgent action), soldiers are now present 24/7 in all Fiji’s sugar mills.

The IUF has received reports that soldiers are supervising workers and dishing out military style punishments to workers such as making them do push- ups at the workplace or run around the grounds. In many cases the military is present in meetings between the IUF-affiliated FSGWU and the sugar mill management and decides on the disciplinary action to be taken. The military officers constantly remind workers that the FSGWU is no more and that workers need to listen to them only.

There is worrying evidence that the Fiji Sugar Corporation is taking advantage of the situation to breach both the CBA and the existing labour laws. The company has recently made a unilateral decision not to pay overtime pay for but instead to give time off in lieu. Both the CBA and the law require payment.

The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international federation of trade unions representing workers employed in agriculture and plantations; the preparation and manufacture of food and beverages; hotels, restaurants and catering services; all stages of tobacco processing. The IUF is composed of 394 affiliated organizations in 126 countries representing a combined membership of around 2,6 million.

How to contact the IUF:
Email: [email protected]
Post: Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)
Phone: + 41 22 793 22 33
Fax: + 41 22 793 22 38