FIJI TRADES UNION CONGRESS
32 DES VOUEX ROAD, P.O. BOX 1418, SUVA, FIJI
PRESIDENT: Daniel Urai
NATIONAL SECRETARY: Felix Anthony

DATE: 22/07/11
PRESS RELEASE ON ALLEGATIONS RE FNPF

The Regime continues to make personal allegations on Mr. Daniel Urai and myself. These allegations appear on all media outlets in Fiji and in the Fiji Sun, FM96, Fijilive, Fiji Village and FBCL with much vigor. Yet our media releases are not allowed to be published or aired on the radio. We ask what is there to hide from the public by disallowing our FTUC media releases.

If the regime is honest in its conduct, then there should be nothing to hide from the public. We now urge the Regime to allow free media so that we can have a constructive and open debate on all issues. The citizens of Fiji should be allowed to make a free and fair judgment on these issues.

In relation to the Regime's claims on payment of allowances to Board Members of FNPF and other related Boards, we say any payment that were made to Board Members were in accordance with the Rules and longstanding Government policy. We deny that we made payments to ourselves as claimed. All payments were handled by Management and were subject to Audit, hence the Audit Report to which the government is continuously referring to. No Audit Report cast any doubt or claims that payments were out of order. We understand that this debate can go on without any resolution and the public would never get to know the real truth.

In the public interest, I am prepared to disclose all my bank records and tax returns which must be subject to an independent audit to ascertain the real facts provided the Prime Minister and the Attorney General are prepared to do the same. Let’s find out where the real abuse is and who has been paying who what.

There is no value in attempting to defame people or fool people. The citizens of Fiji need the truth and its time the Regime opened its books to the people who pay. After all the regime was to clean up, and being transparent would be a good way to start, albeit five years late.

The real issue in question is the violation of workers’ rights. The regime is  sidestepping the issue by making baseless personal allegations. It’s time that we concentrated on real issues.

FELIX ANTHONY
NATIONAL SECRETARY

Fiji Sun's headline today, and Fiji 1 News' 6pm bulletin yesterday, carried condemnations of the Fiji union movement's attempts to prevent an erosion of workers' rights.

The Fiji Sun's banner headline on the front page reads: "OUT, UNIONS TELL SINGH" on Fiji Public Service Association General Secretary Rajeshwar Singh's trip to New Zealand to rally support from unionists there.

But the reporter Rachna Lal only ever quotes the Ministry of Information Permanent Secretary Sharon Smith-Johns as saying FPSA members want Singh to resign immediately because they never gave him the mandate to travel to New Zealand.

It's interesting that there was not a single disgruntled worker quoted in the article and no response from Singh or a representative of the unions to add balance to the story. The headline is also disingenuous, giving the impression that several "unions" want Singh's resignation when we are not told who these unions are or which members are disgruntled.

FIJI SUN EXCERPT:

OUT, UNIONS TELL SINGH
Civil Servants have expressed their fury over the conduct of the Fiji Public Service Association (FPSA) general secretary Rajeshwar Singh in Australia.
They have called for Mr Singh’s immediate resignation.
Permanent Secretary (PS) for Information Sharon Smith-Johns told the Fiji Sun that FPSA members, who are civil servants, have questioned Mr Singh’s actions in seeking support from trade unions in Australia and New Zealand.
“They believe Mr Singh does not have mandate to speak on behalf of the FPSA as there was no consultation carried out on the issue,” she said.
Her comments came in light of the threat to Fiji flights made by Australian Transport Workers Union which posed a direct threat to Fiji’s tourism, businesses, workers and the economy.
Ms Smith-Johns said the fact that Mr Singh had taken annual leave at the same time leaving the country to attend the trade union meeting, was an indication that this could have been pre-planned.
“The point is, from workers perspective, he is over there representing them, when they have not asked him to go and represent them.
“He is in Australia with a personal agenda and calling for a strike action there which will not help this country in any way. It will cripple this country,” Ms Smith-Johns said.
SOURCE: Fiji Sun

See the response to this article from the FTUC here.