Fiji sugar industry grinds ot a halt as workers, farmers dispute contract and cane prices

A storm is brewing in Fiji as local media is reporting that mill workers, farmers, and the Fiji Sugarcane Corporation (FSC) are locked in a double dispute over seasonal contract terms and sugarcane prices.

Fiji's 2026 sugarcane crushing season was set to officially begin on Wednesday across the Lautoka, Ba and Labasa mills.

However, according to multiple reports by Fijian media, operations are at a standstill due to disagreements between the National Union of Workers members and FSC.

Videos taken by The Fiji Times at the three mills reportedly show no movement in operations.

"The sugarcane crushing season was scheduled to begin today at the Labasa Mill, but crushing had not started when The Fiji Times visited the site this morning. Only one to three cane lorries were at the mill, with no crushing activity underway," the media outlet said in a post earlier today.

State broadcaster FBC reports the "uncertainty" that marked the start of the crushing season at the Labasa Mill is due to union workers being denied entry into the mill.

"The disruption has also delayed the start of harvesting, with no cane trucks arriving at the mill and no cane deliveries being made as operations remain at a standstill," FBC reported.

"Workers reported for duty after being instructed by their department heads to return to work but were stopped at the mill gate by Human Resources."

But the FSC has issued an official statement, strongly denying these claims. It said no rostered employee was locked out.

"No rostered employee has been denied entry to any of FSC's three mills, and the mill gates remain open for employees reporting for their assigned shifts," the FSC statement said.

The mill workers are disputing shift rosters and seasonal contract terms with the FSC, while sugarcane farmers are running a parallel harvest boycott.

The Fijian government maintained a guaranteed price of $85 per tonne in the 2026-2027 Budget announced last week, but the farmers are demanding $110 per tonne to match inflation and rising fuel costs.

According to sugarcane farmers who spoke to The Fiji Times, they will not deliver "a single stick" to the FSC and the government unless their demands are met.

"We want justice. We need FJ$110. We won't give a single [sugarcane] stick to the FSC and government," Ba's Rarawai sector sugarcane farmer Jasveer Lal told the newspaper.

'Incompetent for years'

Opposition MP Viam Pillay, in a statement, said the boycott was not helping "one single farming family".

"The mills are supposed to be running, but the gates are quiet. This nonsense needs to stop," he said.

"I want $110 a tonne for my cane just like every other farmer. I know the struggle. But we have to be realistic. We fought hard to get where we are today. With fuel prices coming down this morning, we have a real bonus that makes this season work."

Pillay said he was looking at the "big pitcture" and the harvesting needs to commence "to get our land ready for next year".

"If we are playing political games, how do we expect this industry to grow? We are killing our own future with this short sighted thinking.

"FSC management has been incompetent for years, and the government has dragged its feet for too long. But two wrongs do not make a right."

He claims the National Farmers Union "is burning down our future for a protest", adding that the FSC must also sort out its internal issues immediately so farmers were not punished for management failures.