The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment would like to response to the Fiji Times article dated the 30th of November 2009 on “Employment Laws Given Prominence” which appeared to portray lot of negativity through misrepresentation.
While the writer is entitled to his opinion, however I wish to clarify that Mediation process in the resolution of employment problems under the Employment Relations Promulgation 2009, (ERP) is guided by specific timelines. In that, the Mediator who is a neutral third party in a dispute, is allowed only 30 days time to resolve grievance or disputes referred to the Mediation Unit. Any extension of this rigid timeline is at the discretion and concurrence of both the parties to the dispute and not the mediator as appears to infer in the article.
It is seldom practiced for mediation to proceed beyond the defined period, unless of cause, the dispute relates to Log of Claims which by the very nature of the disputes is subjected to intensive discussion between union and employer for effective resolution.
The process of Mediation is built on sound and very structured principles and Mediators who have acquired international accreditation mediation qualification, ensures that mediation process is free from personal influences. Above all, the mediation process and its outcome are always within the control of the parties. To insinuate any personal biasness on the part of the mediator during mediation, is therefore unfounded.
May I also mention that Mediation Services has in the first year of its operation, recorded about 80% successes rate of settlement in all mediated cases, which is not only an indication of the high level of acceptance of the mediation process by the workers and employers but recognizes the creditability of such trained mediators. One must also be conscious of the fact that such an outcome at the early stage of implementing this labour law compares very favorably with the international standard which had taken much greater period to arrive at similar results.
Therefore, I wish to invite the critics to understand the integral process involved in mediation and the important role of the mediators, rather than hurling unsubstantiated comments. Such commentary is only designed to derail the efforts of the Ministry in providing cost-free services to our workers and employers who have for the first time, in last forty years, directly benefiting through stable employment relations.
While expensive litigation process in disputes resolution is beyond the means of ordinary people; it must be clearly understood Mediation is a speedy and non-adversarial approach to dispute resolution in which both the parties are winners. The underlying philosophy of ERP has shifted the responsibility of settling disputes to those who are responsible for creating it, therefore Mediators simply facilitate settlement to the satisfaction of the parties.
T. Waqa
Permanent Secretary for Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment