EMPLOYMENT and Industrial Relations Minister Semi Koroilavesau said contrary to reports in the media, he was still involved in tripartite talks with the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation and Fiji Trades Union Congress.

“I am very much involved. However, the talks that I was participating in with FCEF and FTUC were informal talks, they were not as part of the Employment Relations Advisory Board,” he said.

“The ERAB chairman is the solicitor-general.

“From last year it had been decided that from January 1, the formal ERAB would sit and my informal talks would be handed over to the chair of ERAB.

“So the previous meetings I had with the FTUC and FCEF, I had handed the minutes to the S-G in his capacity as the ERAB chair, so he is aware of the issues that were discussed.”

Mr Koroilavesau said the meetings he held with the tripartite partners were fruitful and he anticipated a positive outcome from the talks that would be chaired by the S-G Sharvada Sharma.

“What we have put in place now are the procedures and processes that the ILO mission from Geneva are coming to inspect,” he said.

“So the groundwork is now done.

“I also want to clarify that nothing is last minute because there are discussions and meetings that have been happening.

“I have continued to engage and I have passed all that information to the ERAB chair, so there has been continuity.”

The minister said as head of Employment and Industrial Relations, he did not want to interfere in the ERAB process.

“ERAB is actually permanent secretary level. After their consultations, the report comes to me as the minister.

“That is why I am not involved or interfering in the process.”

The first meeting was scheduled for yesterday, however, it is understood that FCEF CEO Nesbitt Hazelman and FTUC general secretary Felix Anthony are both overseas.

The ILO Governing Body made a decision at its 325th session in November last year to send a tripartite mission to Fiji on January 25, 2016, to review ongoing obstacles to the submission of a joint implementation report in regards to labour law reform issues in the country.

During the November meeting, the ILO Governing Body also said if the tripartite mission did not take place in time for a report to be submitted to its 326th session in March this year, a decision would be made on the appointment of a commission of inquiry into Fiji.

A commission of inquiry is the ILO’s highest-level investigative procedure, generally set up when a member state is accused of committing persistent and serious violations and has repeatedly refused to address them.

According to the ILO, 11 Commissions of Inquiry have been established so far.