FIJI TRADES UNION CONGRESS
DATE: 21/07/11

PRESS RELEASE (2) - RESPONSE TO RECENT GOVERNMENT ACTIONS REGARDING TRADE UNION

We, the FTUC, condemn the direct interference of the Government in the affairs of our affiliate, the Fiji Public Service Association (FPSA) through the media release by the Ministry of Information and the comments of the Attorney General.

Government has no business in the internal affairs of any Union. We remind the Government that Officials of the affiliates of FTUC are elected and therefore have full legitimacy unlike this Government. Unions have a mandate to speak on behalf of the workers they represent and are governed by rules and a Constitution. If any member is aggrieved by any decision of the Union, the Constitution of the Unions provide for process to address these concerns. It does not require Government to try and intervene in the internal affairs of the unions.

The FTUC clearly sees such intervention by Government as an attempt to weaken the solidarity of Unions and their members and to politically weaken Unions. This will not work. The FTUC urges Government to respect the rights of workers and their Freedom of Association. Such actions are also in breach of ILO Core Conventions which the Government has ratified and is obligated to respect and promote. It is our sincere hope that Fiji is not judged as a rouge state in the ILO.

The FTUC is also concerned at the comments attributed to the Attorney General which appear to be petty in nature where personal attacks are being made on various elected leaders of the Unions. We remind the Attorney General that these Unions and their Leaders are legitimate and legal and that the Attorney General has no standing in questioning the actions or decisions of these Unions for obvious reasons.

We ask, what consultations and mandate the Attorney General has to produce Decrees and impose them on the citizens. If the Attorney General wants accountability from Unions, he needs to start with himself. Can he tell the Nation what he is costing the taxpayers and why the taxpayers who did not choose him to lead, should pay.

FELIX ANTHONY
NATIONAL SECRETARY

Wed, 20 Jul 2011

Fiji's interim government has accused the head of the country's trade union movement of misrepresenting its plight to overseas unions.

Felix Anthony, the national secretary of the Fiji Trades Union Congress, has been in Australia, New Zealand and Europe seeking support from overseas unions to fight what he sees as draconian new laws restricting union rights.

Fiji Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khayum says Mr Anthony has misled overseas unions into believing the interim government is anti-union.

While speaking to Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program, he also accused the FTUC secretary of being disloyal to Fiji, and potentially putting the country's tourism industry in jeopardy.

"When we talk about the tourism industry, we're not just talking about the hotel owners," he said.

"You're talking about the lady in the village who makes handicrafts, you're talking about people who grow pawpaws from the village and sell it to the hotels. You're affecting tens of thousands of people, you're affecting their livelihood. This is what Felix Anthony is advocating."

SOURCE: Radio Australia News