Junta link puts Qantas Fiji flights under cloud (The Canberra Times – Australia)

July 18, 2011

Qantas flights to and from Fiji may be disrupted, with the Transport Workers Union threatening industrial action and the Australian Government warning that it is monitoring the island’s treatment of trade union members.

Qantas’s links to Fiji’s military regime have landed the airline in a third potential area of industrial disruption, with long-haul pilots and engineers already engaged in separate disputes.

There had been a ”continuing deterioration” of human and workers rights in Fiji, union secretary Tony Sheldon said yesterday.

”Over recent months we have seen the military junta reduce freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly and now they want to smash the basic human right of getting a fair wage for employees and their families,” Mr Sheldon said.

Complete article in The CanberraTimes.com.au

TWU-Australia Press Release: TWU to vote on Fijian work bans