GuardForce Nadi Vote to Strike, Employer Refuses Meeting

National Union of Workers general secretary Felix Anthony said all members employed of Guardforce Fiji in Nadi voted in favour of industrial strike action.

Mr Anthony said this was the result after more than 200 workers cast their votes in a secret ballot on last Friday.

“We were forced to conduct secret ballots in regards to Guard Force at the airport (Nadi International Airport) and the reason is that we have reached a deadlock in our negotiations on the collective agreement,” he said.

“We’ve met on a number of occasions, unfortunately, no progress could be made so the members have voted and the all the members that voted 100 per cent of them voted for in favor of industrial action.”

He said the union hoped to reach an agreement to avoid any action at the Nadi International Airport.

“I have been advised by the Minister for Labour that his team will be conducting mediation as soon as possible and we look forward to those talks,” he said.

“We hope that we can resolve these issues. I call on the employer Guard Force to demonstrate goodwill and determination in resolving these issues.

The Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Agni Deo Singh confirmed he was aware of the secret ballot.

“We are going to invite them for informal mediation straight after the result of the ballot,” Mr Singh said.

“Again, in this situation, I have spoken with the union and the union says that they were forced to take the ballot to get the employer to come to the table.

“That’s the biggest challenge that we have now. Employers who don’t want to come to the table face-to-face and negotiate,” he said.

Questions sent to Wormald Fire and Security, the parent company of Guardforce, remained unanswered when this edition went to press.

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