Fiji’s Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the mills will need to continue to operate even if some workers abandon their jobs.

Sayed-Khaiyum’s comment comes after the Fiji Sugar and General Workers Union carried out a secret ballot on strike action.

“There is no more important industry in Fiji than sugar cane. More than 200,000 Fijians rely on the sugar cane industry for their livelihood,” Sayed-Khaiyum said in a statement.

“One way or another, the mills will need to continue to operate even some people abandon their jobs.”

The workers will know by the weekend whether they will go on a strike or not despite a 5.3 per cent wage increase announced by the Fiji Sugar Corporation.

The general secretary of the Fiji Sugar and General Workers’ Union, Felix Anthony, in a statement, had said the increase amounted to about $8 a week which was not enough.

FijiLive