Over the weekend, a delegation from the Government left for Washington, DC, to participate in the U.S. government’s public hearing, concerning whether Fiji provides internationally recognised worker rights to its citizens. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that the Fijian Government’s commitment to a future of equality and opportunity for all Fijians includes ensuring that the rights of its working people are protected and extended.
My government considers it paramount to safeguard Fijian people’s livelihoods and jobs. In this regard, addressing issues raised about Fiji’s provision of internationally recognised worker rights is of the highest priority. We are very concerned about the potential impact of losing duty-free entry for so many of Fiji’s products into the U.S. market if Fiji is no longer an eligible country under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences. We have estimated that 15,000 jobs could be lost among the 39 companies that export products using this preference, and there could also be indirect job losses. Fiji is a family-based society. The loss of these jobs would affect 75,000 people - which is more than eight percent of our population - because of the multi-generations of family that live together and depend on the family’s breadwinner.
As part of Fiji’s progress toward establishing a parliamentary democracy, we are reviewing our current labourlaws to ensure their compliance with the 34 International Labour Organization Conventions that Fiji has ratified. The Employment Relations Advisory Board comprised of representativesfrom Government, trade unions, and employers is undertaking this review process.
We are committed to protecting all Fijian workers and we will soon adopt Fiji’s first national minimum wage to ensure that they receive fair earnings as well. We are equally committed to providing help through Fiji’s National Employment Centre to create meaningful employment opportunities for our young adults and others who seek work.
Furthermore, the Constitutional Commission has received submissions from all sectors of Fijian society, including trade unions, employer groups, and public employees. It is very important that employees and employers make their views known to the Commission. We expect that the new Constitution will help us continue to build an environment that promotes safe working conditions, allows workers to form unions, and protects them from arbitrary actions. We seek to ensure that unions can take collective action as directed by their member workers and are subject only to restrictions that are generally accepted to protect the public good. We also seek to protect the rights of those workers who choose not to affiliate with unions.
We look forward to bringing the U.S. government up to date about Fiji’s government-wide reforms, which include our labour laws. These reforms have been undertaken to prepare for adoption of a new Constitution next year and for holding democratic elections in 2014. We also look forward to establishing an informal labour dialogue with appropriate U.S. officials to exchange ideas and views.
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