Govt, employers and FTUC sign agreement in Geneva

The International Labour Organization has welcomed an agreement signed by the Fijian government, the employers and the unions today to use the Employment Relations Promulgation as the primary basis for labour management relations in the country.

The agreement signed in Geneva also said that government shall restore the check-off facilities which are the direct union fees deductions for civil servants who are members of public sector unions.

The ILO has said in a statement that the agreement was signed by the Minister for Employment Jioji Konrote, Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation Chief Executive Nesbitt Hazelman and Fiji Trades Union Congress General Secretary Felix Anthony in Geneva.

The parties agreed that the review of labour laws conducted under the Employment Relations Advisory Board mechanism should ensure compliance with ILO core conventions.

They also agreed that any further issues and recommendations for review should be negotiated through the same mechanism.

Any such issues and recommendations shall take into account the findings of the review to be presented by way of a bill to parliament no later than the August 2015 session.

It said the Employment Relations Advisory Board shall vet the bill before it is presented to cabinet and then to parliament.

The agreement further said that the bill once approved by parliament shall be implemented by the end of October this year.

Following the tripartite agreement, the ILO governing body decided to defer the decision to consider the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to its next session in November.

ILO Director General Guy Ryder welcomed the agreement saying that the joint efforts of the government, employers and workers to solve social conflict have proven their value in more than 90 years of ILO history.