Sera Navuga 
[file photo]
The Fiji Trade Union Congress is urging the government to prioritise workers’ needs in the up-coming national budget.
According to the Union, the budget should focus on living wages, rising living costs and FNPF governance.
FTUC General Secretary Felix Anthony said the current minimum wage of $5 was not enough to lift workers out of poverty and calls for a shift to a living wage.
He also stressed the need to restore a tripartite board to manage the Fiji National Provident Fund, ensuring equal representation from government, employers and workers.
“What we would like to see is a living wage in Fiji, where workers do not need to struggle or to compromise their standard of living.”
Anthony reminded the government to honour its promise to compensate Water Authority of Fiji workers terminated in 2019.
“The Minister for Finance, in the last Budget Address, announced that the workers at the Water Authority of Fiji, who were terminated in 2019 and who had matters in the courts or the tribunals, would be compensated. Unfortunately, that did not happen, despite the announcement being made. We are promised that this will be addressed in this Budget. So, we certainly look forward to that as well.”
The FTUC hopes the upcoming budget will introduce meaningful measures to protect worker wellbeing.
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