45 workers strike after two-year pay dispute

Forty-five workers of Ram Sami and Sons have gone on strike over pay and working conditions following more than two and a half years of negotiations that failed to produce a collective agreement.

National Workers Union representative Anasa Tuvuniwai said the dispute escalated after discussions with the company on Thursday failed to resolve the outstanding issues.

“Workers were paid $5.45 an hour and were expected to process up to 6000 chickens a day, compared with 3000 in previous years, without an increase in the number of workers or overtime payments,” he said.

Mr Tuvuniwai also alleged that workers lacked proper protective gear and access to safe drinking water, with some drinking from a borehole and subsequently falling ill.

He said most of the workers were women who worked from morning until afternoon, sometimes in the rain and without proper protective equipment.

The Ministry of Employment has now stepped in, with Permanent Secretary for Employment Maritino Nemani confirming that ministry inspectors had intervened following correspondence from the union.

“All workers, whether local or overseas, must be treated with dignity and employers must provide a suitable working environment,” he said.

Mr Nemani said Ram Sami had previously been penalised for breaches and remained on the ministry’s radar.

He said the company had agreed to attend mediation next Tuesday at 11am.

Worker Vani Nakaunicina said the majority of the women on strike were mothers trying to provide for their families.

She said workers were seeking a pay rise, better working conditions, protective gear and an allowance for working in wet clothes.

Ram Sami and Sons, through its lawyers, is expected to release a statement addressing the allegations.