The Confederation of Public Sector Unions will challenge the decision made by the Registrar of Trade Unions that they cannot have the strike ballot until they exhaust all the negotiation processes with the government.
General Secretary Rajeshwar Singh says their matter will be heard by the Employment Tribunal on the 4th of October.
The Fiji Public Service Association, Fiji Nursing Association, Fiji Teachers Union and Fijian Teachers Association wanted to have the strike ballot from this Tuesday to the 8th of October.
If they had more than 50% of the members saying yes to strike, then they would have given the government 14 days strike notice.
Fijivillage has been informed that the unions were planning to time the strike during the external exams for the students.
Singh says that they had been called for several meetings by the Civil Service Reform Management Unit and he says that this was not a negotiation. He says it was just about the government telling the unions what they would be doing and not asking for their opinions.
Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Civil Service Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had earlier said that the recent comments made by union leadership regarding the civil service reform agenda have made it increasingly apparent they have no concern for the well‑being of Fijian civil servants and a blatant disregard for the best interests of the Fijian people.
In a statement, Sayed-Khaiyum says for six months, the government has attempted on multiple documented occasions to meet with union leadership to formally begin the negotiation process, a necessary requirement by law for commencing the process of a secret ballot.
He says for six months, union leadership has stalled, dithered and ultimately failed to come to the negotiating table.
The Minister for Civil Service says rather than work constructively for the benefit of their membership, union leadership has instead chosen to violate the Amended Employment Relations Act 2015 by failing to enter into any negotiation process prior to proposing a secret ballot for strike.
