FIJI Trade Union Congress general secretary Felix Anthony is calling for an increase to the $5 minimum wage in the 2025-2026 National Budget.
Mr Anthony, who led submissions from trade unions for the upcoming budget, said this was to ensure Fijians were able to survive amidst the rising cost of living.
“We often talk about the cost of living, I think it’s time that the Government did something about that and of course, we believe that the Government needs to continue to address the issue of minimum wage,” said Mr Anthony.
“Right now, while the minimum wage has risen to $5, it is still well below the poverty line and what we would like to see is a living wage in Fiji where workers do not need to struggle or to compromise their standard of living.”
He said what was also concerning was the ongoing burden of non communicable diseases which has been aggravated by low wage rates.
“I think we also talk about NCDs in this country and part of that is because of the poverty levels in this country, where our people are unable to live healthy lives and eat healthy.
“I think this is one of the most pressing issues for workers in this country.”
In 2024, the national minimum wage was increased to $4.50 on August 1 before rising to $5 per hour from April 1 this year.
During the national budget address last year, Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad said the 50-cent increase was implemented for all 10 sectorial wages.
He had said Government intended the new minimum wage would improve productivity and reduce employee absenteeism by providing greater incentives to lower-paid employees to improve their attendance and aspire to higher incomes by acquiring more skills and experience to become more productive.
Prof Prasad will deliver the budget annnouncement at 10am today.
