NURSES IN STRIKE BALLOT
March 22, 2007 http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=59236
THE results of the Fiji Nursing Association secret ballot of its 1400 members will be released next month, says general secretary Kuini Lutua. Mrs Lutua was confident of good feedback from members to go on strike in protest against the interim Government imposing a 5 per cent pay cut and reducing the retirement age from 60 to 55 years. Mrs Lutua and the FNA team was in the West to conduct the union's secret ballot seeking a strike mandate to fight the two decisions of the Interim Government.
"We were down in Tavua and Rakiraki earlier in the day and the response from there was good," she said. Mrs Lutua said they should have the results out next month (April). She said there was a good turnout of nurses so far. "We are urging nurses on maternity leave and annual leave to come and vote," she said. On Tuesday, she said they had received 98 per cent of votes from nurses in the West. The team is expected to conduct meetings around the country this week before the counting of votes at the end of the month (March).
The Public Service Commission is proposing more talks with the union regarding their grievances. Commission chairman Rishi Ram said that if all avenues of negotiation with the unions failed, they would bring in a third party to mediate on their behalf. He said it would be an independent mediator.
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Unions silent on State warning
The Fiji Times Online (http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=59291) reported on Friday 23 March 2007 that public sector unions have declined to comment on the warning by the interim regime that the army will intervene for the sake of public safety if there is strike action. Confederation of Public Sector Unions chairman Rajeshwar Singh said he had "glimpsed" the statement by military commander and interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama but would reserve his comment. Fiji Teachers Union general secretary Agni Deo Singh also said he was going to reserve his comments. Commodore Bainimarama warned the unions that the military would take action in the interest of public protection if public sector unions went ahead with the planned strike. The warning comes in the wake of overwhelming support from public sector union members for industrial action to counter the interim regime's decision to cut civil servants' salaries by 5 per cent. Despite the warning, Fiji Nursing Association members turned up in large numbers to cast their votes in the Central Division. General Secretary Kuini Lutua said the turn out was "very good". The Air Traffic Management Association of Fiji is also preparing for its secret ballot for a strike mandate at the end of the month.
NURSES GO ON STRIKE
26 July 2007
http://www.world-psi.org/TemplateEn.cfm?Section=Whats_New&CONTENTID=18054&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
Members of PSI affiliate, the Fiji Nursing Association, walked off their jobs at midnight on Tuesday 24 July after talks with the interim Public Service Minister Poseci Bune on their grievances broke down. PSI has written a letter to the FNA fully supporting its attempts to secure the pay and working conditions that Fiji’s nurses deserve. The nurses' demands were to reinstate wages to their previous level prior to the imposition of a five per cent pay cut in March 2007. Since taking power in a coup last December, Fiji's military government has cut the wages of public servants and reduced the compulsory retirement age in a bid to rein in spending. Some nurses are also contemplating leaving Fiji for Australia or New Zealand where they would receive better wages.
"Our loss will be Australia and New Zealand's gain", said FNA General Secretary, Kuini Lutua. She said there were hundreds of job offers coming from agencies trying to entice Fiji nurses to Australia and New Zealand, where they would be paid much more than they can expect to make at home. "A lot of our nurses are investigating other options they can take. The association really wants to get this through to the interim government, so we can retain our nurses," she said.
The nurses had remained firm in their resolve to take strike action despite a show of intimidating tactics by the military and police who were shown on national television armed with protective gear including helmets, shields and large batons practising riot control tactics. Lutua says the union intends to go on a peaceful strike and she sees no reason for the security forces preparations : "It's not going to be a riot, it's going to be a peaceful strike as we have legitimate reasons for conducting it". She said the government appeared to be trying to intimidate some of the nurses into stopping any action. "Some police officers are questioning some of our members, asking whether they are going to go on strike or not ... We don't want our members to be intimidated individually. It is unfair," she said.
STATE REJECTS NURSES TERMS
July 28, 2007
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=67309
The interim Government has refused any further dialogue with nurses on strike after talks on the restoration of the five per cent pay cut reached a deadlock yesterday. Chief executive officer in the Prime Ministers office Parmesh Chand said there was no purpose in continuing discussions with the Fiji Nursing Association because they could not agree on the contentious issue of restoring the pay cut. He said they had reached some consensus on other issues which had been brought up such as the retirement age and the partnership agreement, but could not make any headway into the issue of restoring the pay cut. “The burden of pain has to be shared equally. There are no special deals in this”, Mr Chand said. FNA general secretary Kuini Lutua said Mr Chand was fully aware of their demands which included the need to give nurses more than 1 per cent pay restoration. “How much can they offer us? We are not taking 1 per cent”, she said. “The civil servants are not to be used as scapegoats each time there is a coup.”
Ms Lutua said each time there was a coup, civil servants pay was the first to be affected. They were imposed a 36 per cent pay cut since the 1987 coup. “In 1987, civil servants pay was cut by 15 per cent, 12.5 per cent in 2000 and now five per cent with no increments throughout the years,” Ms Lutua said.
NURSES TO ‘PAY’ FOR GOING ON STRIKE
17 September 2007
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=70701
Fortnightly pay deductions for nurses who went on strike could amount to as much as $140. Fiji Nursing Association general secretary Kuini Lutua said she had been holding meetings with the Health Ministry on the deductions. "They want to deduct 17 days of pay from the nurses, which were the days they were on strike," she said. "It's heavy on the nurses because the 17 days will be a substantial amount. "We have been asking they pay the nurses salary arrears since 2000, which they have always used as an excuse saying the government cannot afford it. "We are asking government to offset the 17 days deduction from the arrears." Mrs Lutua was hopeful something positive would come out of the talks. "The length of the strike should not have happened and the Government knows why it lasted 17 days. "The nurses have been given letters that deduction will start from the next pay and will last eight pays. Some nurses will have $50 to $55 deducted while those with higher pay will have $120 to $140 cut. That is above the statutory deduction." Members of the Fiji Nursing Association had walked off their jobs on July 24 and returned to work on August 13 after which they decided to seek legal redress on their 5 per cent pay cut and implementation of the Partnership Agreement. Public Service Commission acting permanent secretary Tom Lee had warned civil servants they would have their pay docked based on the number of days they were not at work.