The Essential National Industries Decree (ENID) has severely affected the membership base of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents cabin crew, baggage handlers and engineers. Roughly 90% of TWU members are employed by Air Pacific. Article 2 of the ENID defines a “bargaining unit” as a group of at least 75 workers employed by the same employer. However, only the cabin crew collectively number more than 75 workers.
All other groups fail to meet that threshold and are thus ineligible to form a new bargaining unit. These workers have individual contracts that were drafted and imposed by management. Dues deduction was also eliminated. With the elimination of the non-cabin crew members, the union lost 50% of its members overnight – roughly 250 workers. The cabin crew have a bargaining unit which was recognised by management. However, under Article 7 of the ENID, the leaders and staff of the TWU, who are not employed by Air Pacific, cannot represent the bargaining unit and engage in bargaining on their behalf. It is reported that members are under strong pressure to withdraw from the TWU. Within the 60 days provided in the ENID, Air Pacific imposed a new CBA which diluted the wages and took back previous gains with regard to overtime pay, meal allowances, clothing allowances, annual leave, sick leave, etc.
There are 78 pilots for Air Pacific, just over the minimum required to form a new bargaining unit under the ENID. The decree gave the parties 60 days to negotiate a new agreement. The union signed a contract with Air Pacific at 4am on 9 November after lengthy and difficult bargaining. The situation forced the union to accept major concessions in the new agreement. These include reductions in annual leave, sick leave and the elimination of long service leave. The contract also contains deep cuts to travel and meal allowances which reduce significantly the amount pilots are compensated. The union bargained with the company on the basis of the old numbers which reflected poor profitability. However, just after the agreements were signed between Air Pacific and the various bargaining units, Air Pacific announced greatly improved profits for the company for the previous year. The union believes that the timing of the profit results was intentional and that the union was intentionally misled. If the results had been released earlier, the arguments given for the application of the ENID at Air Pacific wouldn’t have held.
Air Pacific is also a major client of Air Terminal Services (ATS), which provides ground handling services at Nadi International Airport, including line maintenance, catering and cabin services, freight sales and handling. ATS is owned by the Government of Fiji (51%) and its employees (49%). Its workers are represented by the Federated Airlines Staff Association (FASA), which has a chair on the ATS Board.
Rajeshwar Singh, FTUC representative on the ATS Board, was removed from the board on 31 December, just days after being reappointed unanimously. The government claimed that he breached his fiduciary duty to the ATS board because of his meeting with Australian trade unionists urging a boycott. Mr Singh does not deny the meeting but rejects the allegation that he called for a boycott. FASA reported that permits to meet were routinely denied for no reasons, and in some cases in the past permits were granted and then revoked at the last minute once the union had taken on the costs of renting meeting space. They also believe that their telephones are monitored and are thus very circumspect about what they say.