Page 36 - IB Jan 2018

Business Intelligence

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of government-owned television and
radio station, the FBC, and younger
brother of Fiji’s Attorney General, Riyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum was adamant that the
workers concerned had breached the
law by walking off work. He said the
company would only accept them back
if they sign letters admitting the breach
and accepting disciplinary action.
Industrial relations minister on the
night of 16 December declared the
“strike” unlawful, and even a hastily
organised meeting between the ATS
workers and acting Prime Minister,
Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum failed to resolve
the impasse.
Among inbound passengers that
were affected by the dispute was Fiji’s
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama
who returned from Paris on 17 Decem-
ber after attending celebrations to mark
the second anniversary of the Paris
Climate Change Agreement.
By 17 December, almost all employ-
ees of ATS had joined the stand-off,
Fiji airport disruptions insisting they would only resume work
when ATS management dropped its
(15/12/17)
(15/12/17)
insistence of attaching conditions on
their return.
Nadi, Fiji - Ground-handling of They said those who left work were Fiji Trade Union Congress (FTUC)
aircraft at Fiji’s largest airport Nadi also shareholders of the company and national secretary and International
were disrupted a week before Christ- they had gone to attend a shareholding Trade Union Confederation Asia-Pacific
mas (and disruptions continued as meeting. On their return two hours later, president Felix Anthony said around
we went to press) following a dispute management had locked the main gate 250 employees attended a “sharehold-
between workers and the ground- to their office and attempted to serve ers meeting” and that the event should
handling company. them with suspension letters. Employees not be labelled as a “strike.”
National airlines, Fiji Airways had refused to take their letters, insisting that “They were locked out when they
to deploy its own staff to meet and the only reason they could not return to attempted to return to work because
service its fleet of aircraft, including work was because of management’s deci- they were frustrated with the way the
checking in outbound passengers. sion to lock them out. company was being run, it is costing
Management of Air Services Termi- In addition to Fiji Airways, all other them money,” he said.“For every dollar
nal – the ground handling contractor airlines that fly into Nadi including Air that is unnecessarily being spent, 49
at Nadi International Airport accused New Zealand, Air Calin, Air Niugini, Air cents belongs to workers, as share-
its workers of staging a lightning Vanuatu, Jetstar, Nauru Airlines, Solomon holders, they are concerned about
strike when they walked off their jobs Airlines and Virgin Australia were af- the viability of ATS and the on-going
on 16 December, a charge employees fected by the dispute. mismanagement,”Anthony told The
rejeted. ATS chairman, who is also the CEO Fiji Times newspaper.

No deal better than bad deal hours of negotiations showing the divide ministerial decision on fisheries subsidies
Suva, Fiji - The final decision to continue between the push by developed powerful that aimed to send the negotiations down
discussing prohibitions on fisheries subsi- fishing nations for strict and ambitious an anti-development path.”
dies following the conclusion of the World interim prohibitions on subsidies while An ambitious ministerial decision had
Trade Organisation’s Trade Ministers meet- many developing countries would only been drafted but there was a failure by
ing in Buenos Aires, Argentina has been accept the most flexible development out- members to agree on the final word-
welcomed by the Fiji-based, Pacific Net- comes. According to PANG’s Trade Justice ing. There were multiple proposals for a
work on Globalisation (PANG). Talks on campaigner, Adam Wolfenden, the collapse ministerial decision on subsidies to IUU
interim disciplines for subsidies for Illegal, of negotiations was a reflection of develop- fishing, as well as overfishing and the
Unregulated and Unreported fishing (IUU), ing countries standing firm on their right to commitments on reporting of subsidies to
as well as overfishing collapsed in the final development “by refusing to agree upon a the WTO. “To now only blame India allows

36 Islands Business, January 2018