ACT NOW to defend unions in Fiji

Solidarity with unions in Fiji
TUC campaign
August 2011

Fiji's trade unions are bearing the brunt of repression and harassment from the military dictatorship that has run Fiji since 2006. The TUC is taking part in a global union solidarity campaign and want you to help.

The TUC is calling on members to:

to the Fijian government and...

outside the Fijian High Commission in London on Thursday 1 September from 4pm to 5pm.

In particular, we want the trial of Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) President Daniel Urai and union officer Nitin Gounder, due to start on 2 September, to be abandoned and charges dropped. They are charged with holding a so-called illegal meeting with union members (all meetings require a permit under the dictatorship's Emergency Powers Regulations, and recently, all applications from unions have been rejected). We want an end to the repression and harassment of trade unionists, and an end to the prohibition on union meetings.

But we also want the revocation of recent repressive labour laws and the restoration of the 2007 labour law, agreed by both unions and employers, as well as the eventual restoration of democratic rule in Fiji.

Trade union law and the economy

The most recent attacks on worker and union rights in Fiji have seen public sector workers stripped of most of their employment rights and check-off arrangements suspended; and the Essential National Industries (Employment) Decree, which restricts the rights of workers to strike or bargain collectively in any sector the Government deems 'essential', with excessive punishments for any breaches.

The sectors most likely to be covered by this Decree are sugar production and tourism, which are virtually the only productive sectors (although both have been hard hit by the imposition of the dictatorship, with unemployment in Fiji now running at nearly 10%.

Further information

See the TUC background note on Fiji - with links to International Trade Union Confederation and Amnesty International reports.