6 Nov 2008

Fiji's confederation of public sector unions angry at interim govt's move

11:22 am on 6 November 2008

Fiji's confederation of public sector unions says it's considering taking action after the interim government scrapped about 800 public sector jobs with more to come.

The interim government is planning to shrink the 20,000 employee strong public sector by ten percent to save money.

It scrapped jobs by deploying existing staff in other public sector areas, and by not filling positions that became vacant through retirement or resignations.

It plans to drop 1200 more jobs next year in the same way.

The union's spokesperson, Deo Agni Singh, says there's already a teachers, doctors and nurses shortage and the country will suffer though scrapping more jobs.

"We're not happy at all with this move by the government. We're contemplating, well, we're actually waiting for some written communication from them before before we can consider what action we're going to take."

Deo Agni Singh says he's unsure how many people plan to retire next year.