The Water Authority of Fiji says nobody's contract is being terminated in their response to claims by the Fiji Trades Union Congress that termination notices have been given to about 2,600 Water Authority of Fiji workers.
Board Chairman Bhavesh Patel says the unions have also started touting the lie that 600 Water Authority of Fiji workers have been terminated which is completely untrue.
He says most of the workers have in fact successfully passed their performance assessments and the Water Authority of Fiji Human Resources team is in the process of renewing their contracts.
Patel says the claims are completely fake news as nobody is being terminated.
He says the Water Authority of Fiji hires workers for particular projects regularly and their contracts end.
Patel says in fact, they extended their contracts for 6 months and absorbed them in other projects as a gesture of goodwill.
The Water Authority of Fiji Board says imagine they are conducting a water project in Taveuni where the project will take 6 months to complete.
Patel adds they would hire workers from Taveuni for that 6-month period and this is exactly what has happened here, the contracts are coming to an end.
He also says that in September 2018, the Water Authority of Fiji had signed a collective agreement with the National Union of Workers after a lengthy collective bargaining process.
Patel adds that the Water Authority of Fiji from its end showed good faith in negotiating the rights and entitlements under this agreement.
The Board Chairman claims that the unions then lied to Water Authority of Fiji employees and told them that signing this collective agreement meant that they did not have to sign a contract.
Patel says this is ridiculous adding that in what world does an employee not have to sign a contract.
The Fiji Trades Union Congress says it had an emergency meeting with some Water Authority of Fiji staff based in Suva last night.
It said that union members discussed the next steps to seek justice and fight for their rights.
Last Friday, Fiji Trades Union Congress National Secretary, Felix Anthony had said that Water Authority workers who are members of the National Union of Workers will go on a nationwide protest before May 3rd if the Authority goes ahead to lay off 2,600 workers today.
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