On February 26, 1991 more than 700 gold mine workers at Vatoukoula, Fiji, downed tools and threatened never to return to work unless the Australian and New Zealand mine management recognised their union and negotiated on their claims. Twenty-seven months later, they remain on strike.
The management has persistently refused to recognise the union or to remedy some of the most atrocious working conditions in the world. The mines are owned by Emperor Mines Limited, a company which operated from Australia from 1935 to 1986. Since 1986 it has been registered in the Isle of Man.
Hired thugs have attacked the workers in their homes, police (who have been fed and supplied on a company account at the local supermarket) have attacked picket lines, and families have been evicted from their homes.
Conditions suffered by the miners include:
- Atrocious living quarters. Mine workers have corrugated iron sheds often with no plumbing or electricity. Toilet facilities are communal and, because of lack of maintenance, degenerated into pits in the ground. Women workers are not eligible for any company accommodation. Higher paid employees (typically European) are provided with quality housing.
- High mortality rates. Safety standards are poor and deaths are common.
- "Slave" wages. Workers are forced to work six or seven days a week for extremely low wages with no penalty rates or overtime. Once the company has deducted the cost of the miner's equipment, compulsory insurance, bereavement fund payments and the cost of purchases from the company shop (which has a monopoly on groceries), mine workers are often left with little or nothing in their pay packets.
Keavekini Navuso, secretary of the Fiji Mine Workers Union, has appealed for support for the miners' struggle for recognition and redress. With no income, the strikers cannot support their union financially, and the government has refused to issue the union a permit to carry out fundraising activities among the general public.
After months of court battles, the union's funds are exhausted and its members reduced to relying on their supporters for basics such as food, clothing and payment of their children's school fees. The FMWU needs money to pay legal fees, for transport and office staff and equipment.
The miners' Sydney supporters are organising a "Dig in for the Fiji Mine Workers Struggle" dinner dance at the Five Dock Bowling Club, Barnstable Rd, Five Dock, on May 29 at 7 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by Shakey Roots, an Afro-Oz dance band. Traditional Fijian ji curries will be served. Tickets are $20 and can be booked on 637 9445 or 759 4435.
A 57-minute video about the strike, Na Ma'e! Na Ma'e, is available for $55 including postage. Phone (02) 716 6324.