THE International Labour Organization says all information regarding discussions about labour law issues concerning Fiji will be made available for public scrutiny on its website.
Responding to questions sent by this newspaper about the breakdown in talks between the Government and Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation on one side, and the Fiji Trades Union Congress on the other in regards to the submission of a joint progress report on labour law reforms, the ILO said the information would be made accessible for all to see.
“The only thing we can say at this point is that all information received by ILO will be made available to its governing body members on our (publicly accessible) website,” said Jean-Luc Martinage from the ILO Press Office in Geneva.
“It is expected that new information will go up from the end of next week. Any further relevant information will also be made available on the site.”
Fiji will be discussed at the ILO Governing Body’s 325th Session in Geneva on Wednesday, November 11.
The ILO had made a decision to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into Fiji in March this year after a number of issues were highlighted about labour laws in Fiji which infringed on workers’ rights.
A Commission of Inquiry is the ILO’s highest-level of investigative procedure, generally setup when a member state is accused of committing persistent and serious violations and has repeatedly refused to address them.
Then Labour Minister Jioje Konrote, FTUC general secretary Felix Anthony and FCEF CEO Nesbitt Hazelman managed to sign agreement in Geneva in March with the Government promising to address certain labour laws issues.
According to the agreement, the tripartite partners were to have worked together to review and amend the offending laws.
A joint progress report which was supposed to have been submitted by Government, FTUC and FCEF to the ILO Governing Body in June did not go according to plan. Government and FCEF submitted one report and the FTUC delivered its own.
A joint implementation report which was supposed to have been submitted by October 15 also did not proceed as planned.
Questions sent by this newspaper to Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum last week regarding the issue remain unanswered.
FCEF CEO Nesbitt Hazelman said as far as employers were concerned, issues with freedom and association and collective bargaining as highlighted by the ILO had been addressed in the Employment Relations Promulgation Amendment Bill passed in Parliament in July this year.
FTUC general secretary Felix Anthony said Government’s failure to open its doors to trade unions during the review process and the inclusion of portions of the Essential National Industries Decree into the ERP Amendment Bill was not in line with the ILO’s core conventions.
