Fiji trade unions ban Emperor
By Norm Dixon
The confrontation between the Australian-owned Emperor Gold Mines Limited and Fiji continues to escalate. On September 17, the Fiji Trades Union Congress voted to ban all equipment and materials brought in and out of Fiji by the company. The ban will prevent gold from being exported.
The ban was imposed in response to a call from the Fiji Mine Workers Union, which is locked in a bitter struggle with Emperor over its refusal to recognise the right of the union to represent mineworkers at the Vatukoula mine. The strike at the mine is entering its 19th month.
The general secretary of the FMWU, Kavekini Navuso, said his union has decided to go on the offensive after Emperor sent a letter to the union rejecting further discussion for now.
Emperor's attempts to freeze the FMWU out of the Vatukoula mine suffered a severe setback on September 10, when the Fiji government issued a compulsory recognition order in favour of the striking miners. This decision reversed the government's previous wholehearted support for the Emperor in its struggle with the miners.
Under the order, Emperor management must negotiate wages and conditions with the FMWU. Emperor's has refusal to comply with the order has united the government and labour movement against it. Emperor has taken the government order to court to test its validity. The government is threatening tough action to force Emperor to comply with the order. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has given industrial relations minister Militoni Leweniqila absolute authority to deal with the dispute. Rabuka is reported to have threatened that there was another company ready to take over the Vatukoula deposit if Emperor did not relent.
Leweniqila has rejected Emperor's claim that only 30% of Vatukoula's work force has joined the union. Labour ministry officials have checked the records of the Mine Workers Union against the company's and are satisfied the union has the 50% of work force required for recognition.
Kavekini Navuso said the company's refusal to obey the order is foolish: "It is destructive and a defiance of law under the Fiji constitution that permits workers to join trade unions".