• November 15, 2024

The Fiji Trades Union Congress recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian Workers Union to work together and ensure that Fijian workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme are union members.

Speaking at a panel session on ‘Agriculture Pacific Power’ at the AWU’s national conference in Perth, Australia on Thursday, FTUC national secretary Felix Anthony said the MoU was a milestone and it comes at the right time.

“Fiji is the highest PALM sending countries and unions need to be involved. Unions need to be leading this,” he said.

“We hope to protect workers when they move to work in Australia.

“And we anticipate that this partnership between AWU and FTUC will help us organise Fijian workers in Australia more efficiently.

“Workers need to be protected no matter which country they are in, to avoid the unfair treatment by employers.”

Mr Anthony said reintegration and skills development were ways in which unions could work together.

“Reintegration once they return home, trainings and skills development while they are away in Australia, a sense of belonging and a helpdesk or go to desk here in Australia when they face issues,” he said.