The strike by workers of Ram Sami and Sons has entered its fourth day, with the National Union of Workers (NUW) accusing the company of undermining the workers’ right to strike by seeking replacement labour.
NUW General Secretary and FTUC Secretary General Felix Anthony said the union had submitted its draft collective agreement more than two and a half years ago, but negotiations had failed to produce an agreement.
Anthony said a meeting between the union, the employer and its legal adviser on September 3 lasted only four minutes.
He said the employer’s legal adviser informed the union that the company was not prepared to agree to anything beyond a “basic” agreement it had signed with another union.
“He further advised that if the Union was not happy with that, then the Union was free to take strike action,” Anthony said.
“The Union accepted the invitation to strike.”
Anthony said the company subsequently advised the Ministry of Employment that it intended to recruit workers to ensure operations continued.
He described the move as “scab labour” and accused the company of attempting to undermine workers exercising their legal right to strike.
“The decision to use ‘scab labour’ is a demonstration of bad faith and total denial of workers’ legitimate right to take strike action,” Anthony said.
“The intent is clear and that is to break the solidarity of workers and deny workers their rights.”
Around 40 Ram Sami and Sons workers are on strike over better working conditions, improved pay and recognition of their union as their representative.
Anthony also questioned the company’s recruitment of foreign workers.
He said the company had previously secured permits after telling the Immigration Department it could not find workers locally.
“There are about 10 or more foreign workers employed by Ram Sami and Sons,” he said.
“We now question as to the honesty of this employer claiming not to be able to find local workers but have absolutely no problem in recruiting them when workers exercise their legal right to strike.”
Anthony has called on the Immigration Department to rescind the company’s foreign worker permits and ensure local workers recruited during the dispute are given employment.
He also alleged that workers had previously been transported in the back of a truck used for chickens and had been expected to work in poor conditions.
“This exploitation must stop,” Anthony said.
The union has called for stronger labour laws to protect workers and said it would attend mediation talks called by the Ministry of Employment on Tuesday.
Anthony said the union remained hopeful the employer would genuinely engage in the mediation process and work towards resolving the dispute.
“We will attend in the hope that this employer will sincerely engage with the intent to resolve the impasse,” he said.
