NGOCHR Stands in Solidarity with ATS Fiji Employees

NGOCHR Stands in Solidarity with ATS Fiji Employees.

The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights expresses support and solidarity with the Air Terminal Services workers who have been locked-out by their management this week.

The workers have raised various issues which include Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA), company mismanagement and sexual harassment.

According to FWRM’s 2016 research, sexual harassment is prevalent in Fiji with one in five women reported to have had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace with high incidences within the hospitality industry and in Nadi.

The fact is that sexual harassment is prevalent, widespread and varied and there is a lack of priority in terms of addressing it.

We urge the management of ATS and the government to take workers’ grievances seriously as part of the human right to decent work and as human rights obligations of the Fiji Government as duty bearers, as well as all businesses and statutory bodies operating here, and to resolve them as quickly as possible, in direct, transparent and fair engagement with the workers.

The Coalition also demands that the ATS Board and Government ensure workers are not victimized or penalized for freely expressing their freedom of association and voicing employment issues should they decide to return to their posts.

Workers’ rights are human rights and the rights of every Fijian must be protected and fulfilled as safeguarded in the 2013 Constitution.

© Scoop Media