By Norm Dixon
Criminal charges were laid against Fiji Trade Union Congress (FTUC) general secretary Mahendra Chaudhry on February 7 under the provisions of repressive labour laws that came into force on October 31.
Chaudhry was charged with unlawfully holding two union positions — he is general secretary of both the National Farmers Union and the Fiji Public Service Association. If convicted, he faces a jail term of 12 months or a $2000 fine.
The FTUC plans to organise a general strike against the government after conducting protest meetings throughout Fiji. The International Confederation of Free Trade Union's Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation (ICFTU-APRO) has demanded that Fiji's president, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, immediately intervene to direct the government to withdraw the charges against Chaudhry.
In a letter to Ganilau, ICFTU-APRO general secretary Takashi Izumi expressed the confederation's dismay at Fiji government's ongoing "repressive" measures, both legislative and administrative, against the trade union movement.
Izumi described the charges as "clearly a vindictive action on the part of Fiji's interim administration, calculated to intimidate and harass brother Chaudhry for his legitimate role as a trade union leader".
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the ACTU have also pledged support for any internationally coordinated action against Fiji's repressive labour laws. NZCTU president Ken Douglas said in a statement that "attempts to remove Mr Chaudhry from office are in direct contravention of the rights of workers in Fiji, in breach of human and trade union rights and the principles of international labour organisations ..."
ACTU president Martin Ferguson has written to Fiji Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, asking him to withdraw charges against Chaudhry.
Meanwhile, as the strike at the Australian-owned Emperor Gold Mine at Vatukoula entered its 11th month, police and company provocation has led to the death of a High Court bailiff and the jailing of six striking miners.
The smouldering anger of the 600 strikers was reignited when Emperor obtained a court order from the High Court to evict six striking miners from their company-owned homes. On February 3, 30 riot police accompanied the bailiff, Mani Lal, to Vatukoula. Trouble broke out when the police ordered one of the six miners, Tevita Matemosi, to immediately vacate his house.
Fiji Mine Workers Union president Eroni Ratuwalesi told the Fiji Daily Post, "A truckload of police from the mobile unit in riot gear arrived at Matemosi's house to evict his belongings ... Matemosi refused to budge from the door and the police pushed the to arrest Matemosi while others tried to hassle the miners outside.
"At that point our tolerance and patience broke down and the striking miners started throwing stones and sticks at the police who retaliated in a similar fashion."
In the melee that followed, Mani Lal was struck on the side of the head by a rock and subsequently died. The riot squad were forced to take cover in their trucks, from where they fired tear gas grenades into the growing crowd of angry miners.
Ratuwalesi expressed "regret and sorrow" at Lal's death. He insisted that the riot police had to take responsibility for the incident since they had provoked it.
FMWU general secretary Kavekini Navuso attacked the police for doing the company's bidding: "The mobile unit is not an employee of the company and therefore it should not sell its professional status to a company that is not conforming to the laws of Fiji".
On February 7 police raided the homes of striking miners in the dead of night, brutally beating those arrested. In one raid 15 riot police swooped on the home of a miner at 2.45 a.m. and took him to the Vatukoula police station. The miner's father said, "When I went to see my son at the police station at 7 a.m. yesterday his face was swollen, his lips were split, the eyes were black and there were traces of blood in his nose and ears".
Within a week, six miners were convicted of obstructing police and damaging police vehicles. They received sentences ranging from six to 36 months. Pro-democracy activists claim the miners were framed and their confessions beaten out of them. Kavekini Navuso accused the authorities of denying the miners legal advice.