Some employers in Fiji are still refusing to negotiate a collective agreement with unions in what the National Union of Workers General Secretary, Felix Anthony, says is a “hangover from the past 16 years”.
He said his union was presently at an impasse with three employers which have refused to sign-off to a collective agreement.
Our negotiations on a revised collective agreement have broken down with Fiji Sugar Corporation and FSC is not signing a memorandum of agreements for three consecutive years,” he said.
“I believe that there is a responsible employer, FSC should do a lot more to ensure that when they deal with the union, there is sincerity in the negotiations.
“We also have a major dispute with our members who work for a security company at the airport.
“Here again, talks on the collective agreements are broken down and the union is anticipating serving a 21-day notice for industrial action.
“These actions we don’t take lightly. But we see that it’s become essential.
“One of the trends that we have seen is that employers are not prepared to negotiate in good faith in terms of arriving at a collective agreement and honouring collective agreements.
“This seems to be the hangover from the previous 16 years, and they seem to have difficulty readjusting to the new environment where workers rights must be respected.”
FSC chief executive officer Bhan Singh said the company was open to good faith bargaining and stands on working in collaboration with the union to move the sugar industry forward.
