The action of a strike by teachers and nurses will have the biggest impact and violations of rights for ordinary Fijians says the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission.

Director, Ashwin Raj, says it’s important to think about the ripple effects of such an action considering these are the essential industries and everybody has a right to access them.

“If you look at the health sector and you take a look at the cadre of citizenry that really access public health facilities. It’s really the poor! So the people that are going to be hit the hardest from this are going to be your poor that have no recuse, they can’t afford private doctors and they rely heavily on the public health sector.”

Raj says it’s essential the unions and government exhaust the remedies available under the Employment Regulation Amendment Decree before resorting to a strike.

He adds both parties need to reevaluate their positions and come to a meeting ground.