Cameroon’s Striking Workers Win Against French Sugar Giant

After intense battles between the police and striking sugarcane workers in the cities of Nkoteng and Mbandjock, which left 150 hectares of the company’s crops ablaze, the Cameroon Sugar Corporation (SOSUCAM) reached an agreement with the union.

Conceding to several of its demands including hikes in wages and allowances, the Central African country’s largest sugar producer secured an agreement for the resumption of work on Saturday, February 8. The company’s operations had been paralyzed since the workers downed tools in Mbandjock on January 26 and in Nkoteng on January 27. The strike reportedly cost the company CFA 3 billion.

French ownership

Only 26% of this sugar monopoly in Cameroon is owned by its government. 74% of SOSUCAM is owned by the French agro-giant Somdia Group. Labor unrest had long been brewing at SOSUCAM due to low wages for back-breaking labor, suppression of union organizing, and dangerous work conditions leading to high accident rates.

Dangerous work conditions and legal violations

In just eight months of the 2022-2023 growing season, at least 100 accidents were recorded, according to a report published in November 2023 by the Seasonal Workers Union of the Sugarcane Sector.

The union also complained that the company failed to provide protective gear to many workers, in violation of a 1977 law, which also stipulates that victims of work accidents should be paid daily compensation, medical care and allowances in case of permanent disabilities.

However, 90% of 8,000 workers, who are temporary or seasonal, are not provided with adequate protective gear and are not fully compensated in case of accidents. In the event of serious injuries rendering them unable to work, they are fired without allowances. “These workers are more vulnerable than permanent employees: they have no job security, worse working conditions, lower wages, and no health insurance,” added the report.

Wage delays and union crackdown

About the time of its publication, Jean-Pierre Champeaux, who took over as the new CEO, added to their woes by unilaterally downgrading the ranks of several workers without any explanation, and changing the payment schedule.

Since 1998, workers had been paid an advance on the 20th of each month, and the remaining wages on the 5th of the following month. Under Champeaux, advances were paid to some workers on the 5th, while others received them on the 10th, some on the 15th, 20th and 25th.

The crackdown on the union also escalated. Champeaux temporarily suspended the union’s president last April, accusing him of “inciting revolt” at the company’s plantations.

Following a police complaint by the company, several activists of the OnEstEnsemble, which has been helping organize the union, were repeatedly summoned in 2024, Mongabay reported. During their interrogation, the police pressured them to stop working with the union and the local residents, who have long been suffering from the contamination of their land and water bodies due to the company’s practice of aerial pesticide spraying and discharging waste into rivers.

The strike and violent repression

Years of anger among thousands of workers finally boiled over just days after the new CEO Jean-Louis Liscio took over in January. When wage advances for that month were not paid on time, workers waited until January 26, before launching a strike.

Payments were processed later that evening, but workers continued to demand the reinstatement of the previous payment schedule and the reversal of rank downgrades.

After a week of peaceful striking, the company called the police. On February 4, authorities set out to disperse the demonstration in Nkoteng. They fired about 20 tear gas shells. Water cannons were also used on the crowd. When the workers resisted, police allegedly shot a seasonal worker in the chest at close range with a Kalashnikov, killing him instantly. Unverified reports claim additional deaths.

Outraged, local residents took to the streets alongside the workers to confront the police, pelting stones. In the violent clashes, at least 11 were injured, including several police officers. Storming into the company’s sites in both Nkoteng and Mbandjock, crowds of people smashed its property and torched 150 hectares of its sugarcane plantation. Around 20 people were arrested.

Despite the crackdown, the strike persisted.

Workers win concessions but tensions remain

Finally, on February 7, management held a meeting to negotiate with the union leaders. SOSUCAM agreed to reinstate the previous payment schedule, and implement wage increases. The monthly dirt allowance from 600 CFA to 750 CFA, health allowance from 3,000 CFA to 3,500 CFA, and the base salary of laborer cutters ranked Category 2A from 56,000 CFA to 57,000 CFA. Guidelines to ensure timely payments were also outlined.

Workers resumed labor on February 8, but tensions remained high. On February 9, the Voice of Nigeria (VON) reported that Nkoteng “is now heavily militarized, with many activities slowed down.”

Condemning the “bloody repression” of the strike, left-leaning French Member of the European Parliament Marina Mesure called on European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič to hold Somdiaa accountable for its “repeated violations of the rights of SOSUCAM’s employees.”