The Committee on the Application of Standards, meeting on 8th June 2011 at the International Labour Conference, called on Fiji to explain how it was implementing Convention 111 on non discrimination. Speaking during the hearing, PSI denounced the adoption of Decree 21 (adopted on 16 May 2011) which has excluded Fiji’s 15, 000 public service employees from the scope of Fiji’s Industrial Relations legislation, including the provisions relating to non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity, freedom of association and collective bargaining. PSI questioned how the government of Fiji can claim to be implementing C111 when it has effectively decided to discriminate against its own employees. Under the new Decree, public service employees have no redress whatsoever against decisions of the State.
In its conclusions, the CAS asked the govt of Fiji to supply further information on the impact of Decree 21 on Convention 111. The committee noted that the Decree excluded government employees from the scope of the Employment Relations Promulgation and thus from its non-discrimination provisions. The CAS was concerned that “this exclusion could have a negative impact on the right to non-discrimination and equality of opportunity and treatment of government employees, especially in the context of the present difficulties in exercising the right to freedom of association.”
http://www.world-psi.org/TemplateEn.cfm?Section=Whats_New&CONTENTID=27621&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm
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PSI Asia Pacific - Utilities - Electricity - Water & Local Government Network Bulletin Blog - The below items are published as an internal PSI Bulletin monthly or you can follow by each post by e-mail.
