FCEF Chief Executive Edward Bernard. [Photo: FILE]

The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation says the Fiji Trades Union Congress’s call for an $8 an hour national living wage must be evidenced and balanced against unique challenges such as low productivity, widening skills gaps, high youth unemployment and rising cost of freight and production inputs.

FCEF Chief Executive Edward Bernard says demanding for a new wages system in an economic climate where businesses and even the Government is trying to survive and continue to employ workers, is not good faith on the part of FTUC.

He says the World Bank has warned that Fiji’s economic growth could slow below 3% unless the country urgently strengthens reforms, improves productivity and rebuilds fiscal discipline.

FCEF says Fiji’s minimum wage has risen by 115% since 2015—from $2.32 to $5.00 per hour—and by 86.6% in just the past three years, making it perhaps the highest wage increase in the world.

FCEF also says Fiji’s minimum wage is over 60% higher than Papua New Guinea’s, even though PNG’s Gross Domestic Product is four times larger than Fiji’s.

FCEF says simultaneously, Fiji has had an increase in sectoral wages, where most sectors are paying above $5.00 per hour.

The Federation says recently, it pushed for the standardization of meal allowance for workers across all sectors and supported an increase in the meal allowance of workers, based on evidence it presented to the Wages Council.

FCEF says there has also been an increase in income at the household level through the $1.4b in remittances.

The Federation says it supports Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s response to FTUC – that wage reviews must be structured, transparent, informed by economic realities and cost of living considerations and necessary discussions that require balanced, evidenced and genuine consultation.