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THE OLD WORKERS WARRIOR pours oil on political fate of FFP: FELIX ANTHONY re-emerges at his fighting best as he slams the 'Minister of Everything' - Khaiyum- with an expletive from the audience 'F**K HIM'

22/10/2017

6 Comments

 
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And FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry joins FTUC rally, a reminder of the vanished past, when these trade unionists took Rabuka head-on in 1987. If only the two - Anthony and Chaudhry - had not rushed and joined the Bainimarama coup, who knows what the fate of Fiji would have been, for historically it was the trade union movement that had become the voice of the silent majority after the coups - cutting across race, religion, ethnicity and class in Fiji. The SODELPA and NFP leaders, Sitiveni Rabuka and Biman Prasad, were conspicuously absent from the crowd. In any case, Rabuka is the last person these unionists must be seen with, for it was he who began the emasculation of trade unionism in Fiji 

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Khaiyum: Political losers (Anthony, Chaudhry et al trying to revive their political careers, "If there was a huge outcry from workers, there would have been thousands on the streets"
Fijileaks: How could thousands be on the street when
Police permit limited the numbers to 5000 marchers?

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ATTORNEY-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum took a swipe at politicians who were part of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) march in Suva yesterday.

Fiji Labour Party (FLP) leader and Mahendra Chaudhry, People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Lynda Tabuya, Fiji United Freedom Party (FUFP) leader Jagath Karunaratne and unionist Felix Anthony were all part of the march.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said these people were trying to revive their political career.

"Felix, Mahendra Chaudhry and Lynda Tabuya, these people are now trying to resuscitate their political careers. They have been in political oblivion, that's the point," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

"These people do not even make the five per cent. They are using the workers, the few hundreds of workers that turned up today (yesterday) on their backs to again launch their political careers, it has nothing to do with the workers."

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said if there was a huge outcry from workers, there would have been thousands on the streets.

Aiyaz Khaiyum: These people do not even make the five per cent [of the threshold I set in my Political Parties Decree in the 2014 general election]

Fijileaks: Excuse us, they got more VOTES compared to Fijileaks hacker and Government Whip Ashneel Sudhakar, and other FFP MPs and Cabinet Ministers who entered Parliament clinging to the sulu of Bainimarama under the D'Hondt Electoral System
From Fijileaks Archive, 2014

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From The Fiji Times, 22 October 2017

MEMBERS of the Fiji Trades Unions Congress took to the streets in their hundreds yesterday in a protest march demanding the restoration of their rights.


Cheers erupted from the large crowd gathered at Ratu Sukuna Park, in Suva when FTUC national secretary Felix Anthony spoke on the five issues union members and unionists had been tirelessly fighting for.

Mr Anthony said the five main reasons behind the march were collective bargaining/individual contracts of civil servants, right to secret ballot/right to strike, minimum wages, review of labour laws in the country and public holiday pay for workers under the Wages Council.

Mr Anthony said the individual contracts "imposed" on civil servants and workers in Government owned entities must be removed and the collective bargaining process returned.

He said the FTUC, Government and the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation had signed an agreement that workers' rights in this country would be respected.

"We want the Government to respect that agreement, to respect what they signed with us, the word they have given to the International Labour Organisation that they will respect collective bargaining," Mr Anthony said.

"Collective bargaining is a critical part of the Employment Relations Act, a legislation that this Government must respect. Collective bargaining is an integral part of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution, Section 20."

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6 Comments
Rajend Naidu
22/10/2017 10:04:41 pm

Editor,
Solidarity
Workers of the World, Unite! - Marx.
A history of Solidarity, a Polish non- government trade union labour movement in the 1980s shows just what can be achieved politically when workers unite in solidarity for their common cause and their fundamental rights.
Workers in Fiji and their leadership must unite to reclaim their hard fought rights to work and live in human dignity.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Bahuki
22/10/2017 11:55:57 pm

These people are just taking the initiative of their democratic right to protest and yet AK-47 taking a swipe at them with his small tiny ego like the dictator that he is alongside his lackey Frankie.

Its like Aiyarse feels threatened whenever things like this happened as if there were loopholes in his decrees on the right to strike or protest.

Reply
Ratu
23/10/2017 06:53:46 pm

It's about time the labour aristocracy like Chaudhry, Felix Anthony and Daniel Urai set aside their differences and unite and start to show true leadership of the labour movement. As it's generally well known strikes are always a last resort. The unionists who participated in the march on Saturday and the many hundreds who chose not to for fear of victimisation reflect the concern the workers have for the erosion of their rights and threats to their job security. Fascist governments will always be in alliance with big business and the military to squeeze the working class

Reply
Rajend Naidu
24/10/2017 05:07:42 am

Editor,
Suppression Of The Voice Of The People
In his letter ' Fight for Get Up!' ( smh 24/10 ) Joy Nason says " Over the past 10 years I have gladly given my time to volunteer with Get Up precisely because this progressive organisation is not aligned to any political party ( " Get Up! To fight claims it is a Labor proxy", Oct 23 ).
Their campaigns empower ordinary Australians to make a difference in achieving a fair and flourishing society. It would indeed be a sad day for democracy if the voice of people power was silenced".
It would indeed.
We know because that is what happened to many progressive civil society organisations after the Bainimarama military coup of 2006 and the subsequent period of the PER and the dictatorship. Their voice was effectively silenced.
Some say the sword of Democles still hangs of them - the media, the trade unions, the civil society groups - because the dictatorship has not fully shed its old habits of ruling by intimidation and coercion.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Rajend Naidu
24/10/2017 08:50:11 am

Editor,
Police Raid Workers' Union Offices.
No, it's not a raid in Russia or Zimbabwe Or Venezuela or Fiji.
It's a raid in Australia - an advanced modern democracy.
The raid relates to donations the Australian Union of Workers made to the civil society organisation Get Up ten years ago when it was set up.
The national secretary of AUW said the process involving 26 police officers turning up at union offices with the media at hand was very concerning.
The deputy leader of the ACTU said the raid was abuse of political power by the State . It was unthinkable to deploy state resources in a relatively minor civil matter when there were more pressing matters to attend to. This she said was very damaging to Australian democracy.
She said this was the modus operandi of the party in government to go after political opponents ( Breaking news ABC 24/10 ).
The Labor Party described the raid as a witch hunt.
It would seem the modus operandi in question is not restricted to the State in a banana republic or an authoritarian regime.
It can happen even in countries considered model democracies.
That's very frightening to say the least.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Rajend Naidu
24/10/2017 11:09:39 pm

Editor,
Standing with Civil Society Organisation with a Spine.
Wendy Atkins writes ( smh 25/10 ) " Get Up is an organisation this household supports financially and in other ways. Why? Because it targets things that we feel passionate about and we are suspicious of any government ...We want someone to hold them to account..."
That explains why the mob in power are going after this progressive organisation. We are familiar with that phenomenon in post coup Fiji politics.
But as Wendy says Get Up and it's many supporters are not going any where.
They will continue to fight for what's right for the public good.
That is as should be.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply

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