The Ministry of Health and Medical Service (MoH&MS) and the Fiji Nurses Association (FNA) this morning signed an agreement to settle the ongoing grievances of the Nurses.
The Ministry of Employment Productivity and Industrial Relations who mediated the dispute was thankful to both parties for coming forward and willing to settle the nurses’ grievances in “good faith” for the greater benefit of our people.
The Employment Minister, Honourable Agni Deo Singh complemented his team including the Permanent Secretary and the Mediators for bringing the parties together and resolving this long pending matter amicably.
He added that this positive approach by the Ministry has seen a number of disputes resolved in the past few months.
“Our emphasis on collective bargaining in good faith is the cornerstone of employer-employee relations. This also demonstrates the Fiji Coalition Government's commitment to complying with the ILO Core Conventions,” emphasized Minister Singh.
The Permanent Secretary for Employment, Mr. Maritino Nemani thanked both parties for their willingness to participate/dialogue and genuinely agreeing to settle the nurses' long outstanding grievances.
Mr. Nemani highlighted that the resolution agreed upon is a win-win for everyone.
“This is a sign of good faith where parties are willing to dialogue with mutual trust and understanding that we all have a common purpose to serve our people.”
“Our compassion, humility, respect and forgiveness will carry us a long way when we genuinely collaborate and “talanoa” finding solutions and to better the lives and wellbeing of our people in the community we all serve,” emphasized PS Employment.
Today’s signing of the agreement marks the Fiji Coalition Government's efforts to honour tripartism and acknowledge what has been missing for many years.
The Ministry is tasked to ensure we provide the avenue and environment where all social parties can come together and resolve matters so that work and productivity are not jeopardized.
Mr. Nemani hopes that these resolutions and better working conditions for our nurses can form part of the MoH&MS retention strategy to minimize nurses seeking work in other parts of the world.
The MoH&MS executive team was led by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr. Semesa Tudravu and the FNA team, was led by the General Secretary, Ms. Filomena Talawadua.