IFJ: Open Letter Concerning Trade Union Rights in Fiji

September 16, 2011

Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
Prime Minister
Republic of the Fiji Islands
Government House
Berkley Crescent
P.O. Box 2513
Government Buildings
Suva

Dear Commodore Bainimarama,

I am writing to you on behalf of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific representing journalists and trade unionists in the region to express our concerns over reported violations of human and trade union rights in Fiji since the implementation of military rule in 2006. The IFJ represents more than 600,000 media workers in 131 countries, including our affiliates the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance Australia and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union of New Zealand.

While the IFJ, MEAA and EPMU have been aware of the erosion of trade union rights in Fiji since 2006, our concerns have been heightened by the promulgation of the Essential National Industries Employment Decree on September 7, 2011 and the Essential National Industries and Designated Corporations Regulations on September 8, 2011. The Decree and Regulations diminish workers’ rights and remove many of the conditions guaranteed by International Labour Organisation conventions ratified by Fiji. The IFJ supports the widely held view that the Decree and Regulations seriously diminish workers’ rights and violate human rights, in contravention of Article 23, subsection 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Of particular concern to the IFJ and its affiliates and partner organisations including the Pacific Freedom Forum, is the definition of Fiji Broadcasting Corporation as an “essential service” which therefore comes under the purview of the Decree. Media workers and Fiji’s citizens already contend with insidious state censorship as a result of the Media Decree introduced in April 2010, which places strict controls the media and forbids negative portrayals of your administration. Media workers from Fiji’s beleaguered public broadcaster now also face an erosion of their working conditions and rights to organise and take industrial action.

Unfortunately the attacks on working conditions are not limited to our colleagues in the media industry, but will also directly affect all public sector workers, and any private sector employer deemed an essential service under the Decree. A report from our colleagues in the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) issued on August 26, 2011 identifies systematic attacks on workers’ rights in Fiji that have occurred since the abrogation of Fiji’s Constitution in April 2009, and the subsequent introduction of a series of decrees which have eroded the conditions of Fiji’s Employment Regulations Promulgation of 2007. We hold grave concerns that the most recent Decree will intensify widespread discrimination against union members in Fiji, as identified in the FTUC report.

Most disturbingly, these attacks have extended to the arbitrary arrest, assault and detention of senior trade unionists in Fiji, including FTUC National Secretary Felix Anthony, and the pressing of criminal charges against FTUC President Daniel Urai and National Union of Hotel and Catering Workers organiser Dinesh Gounder for unlawful assembly under Fiji’s Public Emergency Regulations. We note with concern that Public Emergency Regulations are still in place, despite a promise from your administration in 2009 that they would be temporary.

The IFJ notes Fiji’s ongoing exclusion from the Pacific Islands Forum on account of the regression of democratic values and the principles of human rights since the 2006 coup. As an indicator of your commitment to democratic values and human rights, and in the interest of promoting good governance in the Pacific region in line with the values of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Guiding Principles and Values of the Pacific Islands Forum, the IFJ respectfully encourages you to:

• Immediately drop the unlawful assembly charges against Daniel Urai and Dinesh Gounder
• Immediately repeal the Essential National Industries Employment Decree
• Immediately repeal the 2010 Media Decree
• Immediately repeal the Public Emergency Regulations
• Call elections by no later than 2012, not September 2014 as recently announced
• Implement workplace legislation in line with the ILO conventions ratified by Fiji
• Thoroughly investigate all cases of assault on union leaders documented in the attached FTUC report and swiftly bring their attackers, including those allegedly responsible within Fiji’s military, to justice

We strongly advise that Fiji’s future prosperity will be held back if Fiji’s power-holders continue to seek to restrict freedom of the media, freedom of expression and freedom of association, thus diminishing the freedoms of all citizens of Fiji.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Park

Director
IFJ Asia-Pacific

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries

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ENDS