The Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) and the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF) have signed a bipartite initiative to support redundant workers in micro businesses.
Called the Transition to Business (T2B) initiative, the project targets redundant formal sector workers who have started potentially scaleable businesses and build their capacities to sustain their micro businesses and income for their families.
FTUC national secretary Felix Anthony said the initiative would provide business training, business advisory and business mentoring.
Mr Anthony said the preliminary findings of the recently-concluded national Tripartite-ILO assessment on the impact on COVID-19 on employment and business had provided the impetus to the FTUC and the FCEF to collaborate on the initiative.
He said through the in-crisis rapid assessment, they had found that presently, 50 per cent of their surveyed members were redundant and of those 46 per cent had ventured into self-employment.
FCEF president Sandeep Chauhan said they had developed a wealth of in-house experience and expertise in supporting micro-business and could contribute very effectively to the project.
