CTU Media Release
9 August 2011

CTU welcomes ILO Delegation to Fiji

The CTU has welcomed the announcement by the International Labour Organisation that it is sending a delegation to Fiji next week.

The ILO Director General Juan Somavia says he’s sending the team to advise him on how to help the parties involved deal with the issues in a constructive way, but notes that decree number 35 and the arrests of Dan Urai and Dinesh Gounder come on top of long-standing concerns about trade union rights in Fiji.

Peter Conway, CTU Secretary, says “we have been calling for the ILO to get more actively involved so this is good news.”

Peter Conway said that he will attend a meeting of Aviation unions in Auckland tomorrow where the Fiji situation will be discussed.

“The CTU is calling on the New Zealand Government and employer organisations to work with the union movement to support human and trade union rights in Fiji.”

The arrest and overnight detention of union officials for simply holding a meeting, the beatings of union leaders and the torrent of decrees removing fundamental worker rights all indicate a major deterioration in Fiji.

ENDS

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