THE Fiji Islands Council of Trade Unions (FICTU) believes everyone has the right to fair labour practices including humane treatment and proper working conditions
In supplementary submissions following requests from the Constitution Commission regarding decrees promulgated since April 2009, the council recommended the repeal of eight decrees.
In its submissions, the council recommended the strengthening of Section 33 of the 1997 Constitution governing labour relations and that the section be substituted with "every worker has the right to form, join and be presented by a trade union, participate in the activities and programs of a trade union and to strike".
A copy of the letter obtained by The Fiji Times showed that FICTU general secretary Attar Singh recommended that trade unions and employer organisations had the right to engage in collective bargaining. He said given their recent experience, they proposed that provisions for the following rights in the 1997 Constitution be strengthened — privacy, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, demonstration and picketing, freedom of expression and freedom of the media.