In what our correspondent in Suva describes as a most unusual development, Fiji's Public Service Commission has reported a trade dispute against the Fiji Public Service Association.
The Fiji Times reports that the commission has sought the intervention of the ministry of labour, saying the association has refused to finalise the new Performance Management System which was agreed and signed by the two parties in January last year.
The secretary of the PSC, Ratu Tui Cavuilati, is quoted as saying the FPSA and other public sector unions had agreed that the new system was to be implemented from January this year.
Ratu Tui says in preparation, the Cost of Living Adjustment for 2002 was paid.
But the FPSA, the Nurses Association and the Fiji Teachers Union are calling public rallies to seek a strike mandate, saying they want the Cost of Living Adjustment to remain while the Performance Management System is implemented.
The FPSA is claiming a five per cent salary adjustment for this year.
In the 2004 national budget, the government has been forced to allocate 82 per cent of its total revenue to meeting the cost of the public service while only 18 per cent will be spent on capital development.
