The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation says public support for an $8-an-hour living wage cannot substitute for a credible and evidence-based wage-setting process.
FCEF chief executive officer Edward Bernard made the comments as the Fiji Trades Union Congress targets 100,000 signatures for its campaign to introduce a national living wage.
While acknowledging FTUC’s democratic right to pursue the petition, Mr Bernard said the debate was not about whether workers deserved decent wages.
“The issue is not over dignity or whether workers should earn decent wages — FCEF supports fair and equal wages for equal work,” Mr Bernard said.
“The issue is when we move from a statutory minimum wage to a living wage benchmark, the rate must be established properly — through evidence, transparent methodology, economic analysis and genuine tripartite dialogue.”
FTUC is proposing an $8 hourly living wage, compared with Fiji’s current statutory minimum wage of $5 an hour — an increase of 60 per cent.
Mr Bernard said the number of signatures collected could demonstrate public support for the proposed figure, but could not establish whether $8 was an appropriate living wage for Fiji.
“A petition can tell us how many people support $8. It cannot tell us whether we are ready for living wage or if $8 is the correct living wage for Fiji,” he said.
“That requires evidence, not signatures.”
FCEF said the International Labour Organization had established principles for determining a living wage, including the use of robust evidence, participation by workers and employers, transparent and replicable methodologies and consideration of local and regional economic realities.
It said any proposed living wage should also be technically validated before being implemented through established wage-setting mechanisms.
FCEF also pointed to the ILO’s principle of “incremental progression from minimum wages to living wages”, arguing that the scale and timing of any increase needed careful consideration.
Mr Bernard maintained that Fiji’s transition towards a living wage should therefore be determined through evidence and genuine tripartite discussions involving Government, employers and workers, rather than the number of signatures supporting a particular wage rate.
