APIA (Samoa Observer/Pacific Media Watch): A letter from Fiji arrived yesterday in the office of the Apia newspaper Samoa Observer.
Sent through email, it came from Kamlesh Kumar, general secretary of the Transport Workers Union.
“Bula,” says the letter. “The illegal Fiji government recently implemented the very controversial Essential National Industries Decree which effectively makes trade unions powerless and undermines the rights of workers in Fiji.”
Kumar writes that the government censors did not allow the Transport Workers Union’s response to the implementation of the decree to run in any Fiji media.
“This is despite the fact that workers at Air Pacific are willing to take pay cuts and reduction of benefits to assist the airline in returning to profitability,” says Kumar.
“By only allowing government’s side of the story to run, the people of Fiji are totally unaware that alternative solutions have been sought by Fiji’s unions to the problems that plague the country’s industries, including Air Pacific.
“I hope you can publish this and let the people of the Pacific know the reality of censorship in Fiji.”
The Samoa Observer is publishing the Fiji Transport Workers Union statement. It will also be posted on our website.
Transport Workers Union statement:
“Transport Workers Union remains committed to discussions with the management of Air Pacific on the way forward and how it can help the airline as we believe it is our company.
But is not prepared to give up the current terms and conditions of employment, salary and benefits for good.
They came over decades of negotiations and struggles. They did not come easily.
We are prepared to give up some of these for a while but would want them back as soon as the airline returns to profitability.
We have done this before and are prepared to do that again. The airline is not faced with the problems of the early 1980’s.
So why is there such a panic? The workers worked at half pay in the early 1980’s, agreed to a 10per cent pay reduction for a three-month period in 2009 and have not received any cost of living adjustments in their pays since 2006. All this was done to help our airline. We can do that again.
Air Pacific’s release to the workers indicates that it will continue to work with TWU in so far as flight attendants are concerned.
The rest of the workers will be given individual contracts of employment and will no longer be covered by the Union.
It is a sad day for the workers as their right to belong to a union and collectively bargain will no longer exist.
This is in direct violations of International Labout Organisation's conventions 87 and 98. I can only hope the employer and the government can realise that.
The employer is saying that they pledge to honour the proposals they have already offered without diminishment is quite strange.
The proposals that we received contains huge claw-backs on existing terms, conditions and benefits. It also contains massive declines. No union in its right frame of mind can ever agree to such proposals.
There is no need for the decree. We are prepared to help. And why should some workers be denied their basic right to belong to a union?”
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