The Fiji Public Service Association (FPSA) wants the Ministry of Civil Service to hold consultations with them before any review of the civil service begins.
FPSA Secretary General, Judith Kotobalavu has said this in a letter sent to the acting permanent secretary for Civil Service, Parmesh Chand on Tuesday.
“It has come to our notice, that the Ministry of Civil Service has appointed four local experts to conduct a review of the civil service,” wrote Ms Kotobalavu.
“The above unilateral decision by the ministry is seen as an affront by the association and a first sign of cavalier attitude in making far reaching decision on our members and civil servants generally without consultation with the Public Sector Unions.
“It is also in breach of Employment Relations Act (ERA) 2007.
“We request your office to call a meeting of the Public Sector Unions to discuss the review and update the unions the process and procedures where all parties can be represented.
“We are also interested to know who are the four local experts who will review the civil service and their experience and qualifications.”
Acting permanent secretary Parmesh Chand said there was no deliberate attempt to deny any opportunity for consultation.
“We would happily invite them for discussions,” he said.
“The work we are doing is not a review, as such we essentially gathering some baseline information in areas covering workplace environment, career path development, improving internal working, systems and processes and identifying statutory provisions to better harmonise the extended retirement age and removal of time bound contract appointments.
“All this will assist us in better planning,focusing and co-ordinating our work. We will have a talanoa with FPSA to amicably address their concerns.”
