Table of Contents
Sugar Economy & Trade Unions
The cane fields of Fiji were never just rows of stalks swaying in the wind. They were political classrooms, battlegrounds of dignity, and the seedbeds of unions that reshaped both the economy and the nation’s democracy. From the fiery strikes of the 1920s to the organised negotiations of the late 20th century, Indo-Fijian farmers and workers used the power of collective action to transform
cane into currency and protest into policy.
The Centrality of Sugar
By the 1930s, sugar accounted for nearly 80 percent of Fiji’s exports. The Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR), an Australian giant, controlled mills, transport, and marketing. The cane belt stretched like a green spine across Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, its farmers overwhelmingly Indo-Fijian. Every aspect of the national budget—from railways to schools—depended on cane revenues. In such an economy, the voice of the farmer could never remain only in the field. It was destined to echo in boardrooms and parliaments.
“Cane was currency, cane was power—and whoever controlled it shaped Fiji’s politics.”
Seeds of Organisation
The strike of 1920 had signalled a new era. Though brutally suppressed, it convinced Indo-Fijians that collective bargaining could bend the system. The 1930s and 1940s saw the rise of cane unions led by charismatic figures. Ayodhya Prasad founded the Kisan Sangh in 1937, promising farmers fair treatment, better cane prices, and dignity in dealing with CSR. His union drew thousands, especially in Ba and Tavua.
Yet unions split as quickly as they grew. In 1940, A.D. Patel, lawyer and future political leader, broke away to form the Maha Sangh, appealing to farmers dissatisfied with Kisan Sangh’s cautious tactics. The result was rivalry as well as mobilisation. Competing rallies filled school grounds; delegates argued over formulas and strategies. What they shared, however, was a conviction: farmers needed organised power to face the corporate giant.
Founded 1937 by Ayodhya Prasad. Advocated fair cane prices, farmer dignity, cautious engagement.
Founded 1940 by A.D. Patel. More militant, legalistic, and politically ambitious.
Splinters in the 1950s–60s reflected district rivalries but kept pressure on CSR.
Negotiating with CSR
CSR’s dominance meant that every dispute became a test of will. Cane price formulas, often opaques, parked annual clashes. Farmers demanded recognition of labour costs and risk; CSR stressed efficiency and global sugar markets. Strikes in 1943 and 1960 brought the industry to standstill. In both cases, government intervened, recognising that the colony’s economy could not function without compromise.
These negotiations trained a generation of leaders. Men like Patel, Koya, and later Mahendra Chaudhry learned to dissect contracts, mobilise farmers, and argue across the table from corporate managers. Their skills would later shape Fiji’s legislative debates and party manifestos.
Case Study: The 1960 Strike
In July 1960, after disputes over cane price formulas, thousands of farmers walked off their fields. CSR mills closed, exports halted, and ships waited in vain at Suva harbour. The government feared financial collapse. Negotiations dragged on, but the strike proved two things: the vulnerability of Fiji’s mono-crop economy and the potency of Indo-Fijian collective action. Though compromises were reached, the strike left scars and inspired farmers to push for greater political representation.
From Fields to Parliament
Unionism flowed naturally into politics. Leaders who commanded cane belts could command votes. Patel and his allies transformed grievances into a political platform, eventually merging into the National Federation Party (NFP). For many Indo-Fijians, joining the union was a political act, as much about identity as economics. The cane belt became the electoral heartland of opposition
to colonial privilege and later to coup-born constitutions.
By the 1970s, the NFP drew its strength directly from cane farmers. Parliament echoed with arguments first rehearsed in mill negotiations. “Pol” (sugar purity) and “tonnage” became metaphors for justice and equality. Indo-Fijian economic struggle had become national politics.
Women in the Movement
Though often absent from leadership rosters, women were indispensable to union life. They hosted meetings, managed strike kitchens, raised funds, and sustained morale. Oral histories recall women in Tavua and Labasa confronting police lines with slogans and songs. Their unpaid labour transformed strikes from fleeting protests into enduring campaigns.
Kisan Sangh formed by Ayodhya Prasad.
Maha Sangh formed by A.D. Patel.
Major strike paralyses CSR; government mediates settlement.
Nationwide strike highlights farmer power and industry vulnerability.
Unions evolve into political parties; NFP becomes voice of cane farmers in parliament.
Decline, Division and Legacy
By the 1980s and 1990s, union influence waned under political repression, coups, and the erosion of cane leases. Splits within the Indo-Fijian community also diluted solidarity. Yet the legacy of the union era remained profound. It had taught generations to organise, to bargain, and to imagine themselves as political actors.
Today, even as the sugar industry struggles against global prices and lease insecurities, the union tradition lives on in the memory of farmers who once blocked mill gates and chanted beneath mango trees. Their lesson endures: that collective action can tilt the balance of power, even in the most unequal of systems.