Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Fiji (Ratification: 1974)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which read as follows:

1. Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee had requested the Government to provide information in its next report on the contents of the 1996 report of the subcommittee of the Labour Advisory Board with regard to the measures to be taken to guarantee adequate protection (accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions) to workers’ organizations against acts of interference by employers or their organizations. In view of the fact that the Committee has been commenting on this issue for several years, it expresses the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary measures in the very near future to ensure full compliance with the Convention on this point.

2. Articles 3 and 4. (a) In relation to the Fiji Trade Union Congress’ (FTUC) previous comments that the Vatukoula Joint Mining Company has engaged in delaying tactics and has challenged the report of the Commission of Inquiry concerning the refusal by the company to recognize an independent registered Fiji Mineworkers’ Union, the Committee requests the Government to inform it of the court’s decision in this matter once it is issued.

(b) In response to the Committee’s previous comments that the Trade Union (Recognition) Act was silent as to the position of a union which did not represent 50 per cent or more of the employees in a bargaining unit, the Government had pointed out that the amendment of this Act had led to a multiplicity of unions in one undertaking all of which were granted bargaining rights. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Trade Unions (Recognition) Act (Amendment) Decree of 1991 has been repealed. The Committee requests the Government to amend the Trade Union (Recognition) Act to extend collective bargaining rights, at least on behalf of their members, to the unions in a bargaining unit even when none of them covers 50 per cent of the employees in this unit.

3. Article 4. The Committee had noted previously that section 10 of the Counter-Inflation (Remuneration) Act allowed for the restriction or regulation, by order of the Prices and Incomes Board, of remuneration of any kind, and stipulated that any agreement or arrangement which did not respect these limitations would be illegal and deemed to be an offence. The Committee had considered, however, that the powers vested under the Act in the Prices and Incomes Board did not meet the criteria for acceptable limitations on voluntary collective bargaining and had asked the Government to keep it informed of any application in practice of section 10 of the Act. In this context, the Government states in its report that section 10 of the Act has been suspended and there is no immediate plan to reactivate it; however, the Remuneration Guideline is still in place.

The Committee recalls that if, under an economic stabilization or structural adjustment policy, for compelling reasons of national economic interest wage rates cannot be fixed freely by means of collective bargaining, restrictions should be applied as an exceptional measure and only to the extent necessary, should not exceed a reasonable period and should be accompanied by adequate safeguards to protect effectively the standard of living of the workers concerned (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraph 260). Since these wage ceilings date back to 1986, the Counter-Inflation (Remuneration) Act cannot be considered to be an exceptional measure introduced for a reasonable period of time. The Committee would accordingly ask the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 10 of the Act in order to ensure full compliance with the Convention on this point.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.