Ram Sami workers' strike enters eighth day as paydispute continues
Ministry-facilitated mediation produces partial agreement, but union and company remain divided over employment terms
Friday 11 September 2026 | 13:00
Updated 11 September 2026 | 14:17 FJT
Ruci Waicadre (closest to camera) with fellow workers of Ram Sami on strike in Nasinu on September 4, 2026.
Photo: Ronald Kumar
A strike by 45 Ram Sami & Sons workers has entered its eighth day without a collective agreement being reached between the company and the National Union of Workers.
The workers went on strike last Thursday over pay and working conditions after more than two-and-a-half years of negotiations failed to produce an agreement covering their employment conditions.
The Ministry of Employment stepped in last Friday and facilitated mediation between the two parties on Tuesday.
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The meeting lasted more than two hours but ended without a full agreement, with the union and company unable to resolve their differences over the proposed employment terms.
“They (Ram Sami & Sons) said that they can only employ their workers on the normal rate. That was why we couldn’t come to a full agreement,” National Union of Workers Industrial Relations Officer Anasa Tuvuniwai said.
However, Mr Tuvuniwai said the parties had reached agreement on some terms.
“We have agreed to a term, they will make the documentation and we will sign once it is done. I cannot disclose to you what we have discussed and agreed to until we finalise it,” he said.
Ram Sami & Sons management directed questions to its lawyers.
The lawyers said they were not part of Tuesday’s meeting.
