The General Secretary of the Solomon Islands National Union of Workers (SINUW), Mr. Tony Kagovai has said that the strike by the workers of the Heritage Park Hotel is "Legal."

This was in response to a statement made by Mr. John Robertson, the General Manager of the Lamana Development Company, recently in the local newspaper, Solomon Star, issue 3768.

According to Mr. Robertson, the "strike by the Lamana Development Company construction workers is illegal."

However, Mr. Tony Kagovai said that the statement made by Mr. Robertson "is not true."

Mr. Kagovai said that Mr. Robertson should not make such statements whilst being in another country.

"If he thinks that the matter is very serious then he should have come to the Solomon Islands, instead of staying in another country without knowing the situation of the workers," Mr. Kagovai said.

According to Mr. Kagovai, "only the court of law can decide whether a strike is legal or illegal."

Mr. Kagovai made reference to a case between the National Provident Fund (NPF) with the Solomon Islands National Union of Workers (SINUW) where the former Justice for Solomon Islands, Sir John Muria made clear that an ample notice is between 7 to 14 days.

Therefore, says Mr. Kagovai, it is clear in our law that the strike is legal and not illegal as stated by Mr. Robertson.

Mr. Kagovai also stated that the General Manager, Mr. Robertson, should not rely on advice from Mr. Brown Pwai from the Division of Labor, "because his advice is not sound and is misleading."