"Please note, I don’t belong to any political party and I will not be standing for elections. I have done my parliamentary bit in the nineties when NFP and SVT worked together to produce an excellent constitution for Fiji, with a great multi-party government provision, which was sadly not used as much as it could have been." Thank you, President, General Secretary, and the Executive Committee of the Fiji Public Service Association, in inviting me to be your Chief Guest today. I was reminded of a similar invitation by Fiji Trade Union Congress and other unions, almost thirty years ago, to their 1985 Labour Summit, at the Travelodge in Suva (some of you may remember those exciting days?). That invitation to me (then just a young lecturer in Economics at USP), was to assist the union movement to respond to the draconian Wage Freeze unilaterally imposed by the Alliance Government, supported by the employers, in breaking apart the Tripartitism that had existed till then.The paper I delivered then is here at this link: The 1984 Wage Freeze and Contradictions in Fiji Government Policy- Labour Summit presentation
Please read it just to learn from history, and how there are similarities but also contrasts, with what your movement faced thirty years ago. Unfortunately, Fiji is now so much more complex and difficult for FPSA and the labor movement to tackle. I will come back to that paper’s recommendation later. I don’t want to give you an academic speech, but just focus on issues which may be of use to you in your AGM deliberations later today:
A: What is the nature of the challenges you face
B: Your innermost union strengths that you must recognize and use.
C: The practical options that you have before you, and
D: The hard work that you as individual members, and as FPSA, if you are to overcome your challenges.
...Whatever your problems are, I believe that you can overcome them, as FPSA and committed individuals. In front of you is a piece of paper with a song (We Shall Overcome) that unions and protest movements have always sung at their gatherings. It is a Negro spiritual created in the deep American south, when slaves and former slaves used to sing together, to strengthen themselves, to face the terrible challenges in their lives. The verses of that song are all relevant to the battles that you FPSA Members are facing today. I will lead you with the melody on my harmonica, and you can sing the song with me and on your own..." Read Professor Narsey's full speech HERE
Please read it just to learn from history, and how there are similarities but also contrasts, with what your movement faced thirty years ago. Unfortunately, Fiji is now so much more complex and difficult for FPSA and the labor movement to tackle. I will come back to that paper’s recommendation later. I don’t want to give you an academic speech, but just focus on issues which may be of use to you in your AGM deliberations later today:
A: What is the nature of the challenges you face
B: Your innermost union strengths that you must recognize and use.
C: The practical options that you have before you, and
D: The hard work that you as individual members, and as FPSA, if you are to overcome your challenges.
...Whatever your problems are, I believe that you can overcome them, as FPSA and committed individuals. In front of you is a piece of paper with a song (We Shall Overcome) that unions and protest movements have always sung at their gatherings. It is a Negro spiritual created in the deep American south, when slaves and former slaves used to sing together, to strengthen themselves, to face the terrible challenges in their lives. The verses of that song are all relevant to the battles that you FPSA Members are facing today. I will lead you with the melody on my harmonica, and you can sing the song with me and on your own..." Read Professor Narsey's full speech HERE
