Fiji Teachers Union

Infobox Union
name= FTU
country= Fiji
affiliation= Fiji Trades Union Congress
members= 4,200 (2004)
full_name= Fiji Teachers Union
native_name=


founded= 1929
current=
head=
dissolved_date=
dissolved_state=
merged_into=
office= Suva, Fiji
people= Tevita Koroi, president
website=
footnotes= Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) is a union representing elementary and secondary education teachers in Fiji. It is a member of the Fiji Trades Union Congress,Neelesh Gounder, "A Long Road to Unity," "Fiji Times," January 12, 2006.] and Education International. [ [http://www.ei-ie.org/annualreport/ei-ie/uk/part_06_members67fe.html?tri=Pays&sel=Asia&inc_coun=yes&inc_add=yes&inc_pho=yes&inc_web=yes "Membership List: Asia-Pacific," Education International, no date.] ]

The FTU was formed as a multi-racial organization. However, in 1960 the Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) was founded. The FTA limited its membership to indigenous Fijians. Most indigenous Fijian educators left the FTU, so that the FTU's membership is now overwhelmingly Indian.Padmini Gaunder, "Education and Race Relations in Fiji, 1835-1998," Universal Printing, 1999.] In 2004, the Fiji Teachers Union counted about 4,200 members (including over 700 indigenous Fijians). The Fiji Teachers’ Association had about 3,500 members. [ [http://www.apheda.org.au/projects/pacific/pages/files/Waiting%20for%20something%20to%20happen%20FINAL.pdf Chris Chevalier, Ken Davis and Bill Leslie, "Waiting for Something to Happen: Trade Union Responses to HIV/AIDS in the South Pacific: Report of a Needs Analysis Survey for ILO and SPOCTU," Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA, Sydney, Australia, July 2004.] ]

Formation

The Fiji Teachers Union was formed in Lautoka as the Teachers' Association on December 7, 1929. It was one of the first unions to form in Fiji. Pandit Ami Chandra was its first President and W. K. Phillip its first Secretary. The aim of the Association was to improve the standard of education in Fiji schools, raise the status and improve and safeguard the conditions of employment of its members, and work for the betterment of the community as a whole. Its membership was open to all teachers (whether native Fijian or immigrant) whose certification was approved by the Department of Education of Fiji. The Association later changed its name and became the Fiji Teachers Union. [Guru Dayal Sharma, "Memories of Fiji: 1887-1987," Guru Dayal Sharma, 1987.]

The FTU registered with the national government as a trade union in 1947.

1950s and 1960s

In 1952, FTU president Chandra founded the Fiji Trades Union Congress. [Brij V. Lal and S.R. Ashton, editors, "Fiji: British Documents on the End of Empire," Vol. 10, Series B, Fiji Stationery Office, 2006. ISBN 0112905897]

K. C. Ramrakha was President of the Fiji Teachers Union from 1967 to 1973. He was also elected the General Secretary of the organization. Ramrakha was the first non-teacher to hold the position of President. His election and his leading role in the National Federation Party caused the Fijian Teachers Association to withdraw from merger talks between the two unions. [Alexander Mamak, "Colour, Culture & Conflict," Pergamon Press, 1978. ISBN 0080233538.]

Post-independence

In after Fiji won its independence in 1970, FTU and FTA formed the Fiji Teachers' Confederation to give them more collective bargaining power. The Confederation led a major teachers' strike in 1985 which led to the formation of the Fiji Labour Party. The formation of the Fiji Labour Party led to radical changes in Fijian politics (including two coups) in the 1980s and 1990s.

The FTU remains competitive with the FTA for members. In 2005 and 2006, for example, many members of the FTA left that organization to join the FTU after the FTU founded a credit union which offered high interest rates on savings.

In 2006, the elected civilian government of Fiji was toppled in a military coup d'état. In 2007, the interim government instituted a 5 percent across-the-board wage cut for all public employees. Most public sector workers' unions struck in August 2007, seeking restoration of the salary cut and a reduction in the retirement age from 60 to 55. The FTU joined the strike. The government then indefinitely suspended Tevita Koroi, president of the FTU, from his job as a school principal because of his union work. [Koroi is also a regional vice president of Education International. "Education Unions Watching Fiji Teachers Situation," press release, Council of Pacific Education (COPE), Education International, August 3, 2007.]

References