The silence from Government amid the axing of more than 700 Fiji Airways staff members is “deafening”, says Fiji Trades Union Congress national secretary Felix Anthony.
“Many employers, likewise, have done extremely well over the past decade, posting huge profits and expanding their businesses but found themselves on their knees when the lockdown occurred,” he said.
“Surprisingly, they wish to make us believe that their balance sheet was not as strong as they appeared to be.
“This crisis has really shown that many, not all, businesses have absolutely no loyalty or commitment to their employees.”
Mr Anthony said this should send a clear message to all workers in Fiji.
“They have demonstrated that there is no such thing as corporate social responsibility in their policies.
“There is only one policy and that is profits above everything and that appears to be all right with Government.
“These terminations have taken place despite the prime minister and Minister for Labour urging employers not to terminate workers.
“The silence of the Government is deafening when workers are being terminated in hundreds at a time.”
Fiji Airways terminated 758 employees on Monday, citing inability to provide work to affected employees because of recurring fixed costs versus next to zero revenue.
CEO and managing director Andre Viljoen said all employees were regularly updated on the impact of COVID-19 on the company.
However, Fiji Flight Attendants Trade Union president Josaia McGowan said there was no discussion of terminations during meetings with airline management.
He also said the company had breached a collective agreement by arbitrarily terminating staff members without going to redundancy and other measures that were in place.
