26 Jul 2007

Arbitration in Fiji nurses strike put on the backburner by Government

3:37 pm on 26 July 2007

Fiji's interim-labour minister, Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau, will not decide on arbitration over the nurses strike until other avenues have been explored.

She says she won't step in until both the nurses and the Public Service Commission have exhausted all possibilities, but the calls for the intervention of the interim Prime Minister is a hopeful sign that some resolution can be reached.

Close to 1,000 nurses have walked off the job and are in their second day of a strike over demands to restore their 5% pay cut and other conditions.

The strike is causing widespread disruption to health services including the shutting down of clinics, nurses stations, outpatient services and surgery.

Mrs Rounds-Ganilau says she's concerned for the country's health situation as she doesn't know how long the standby labour is able to carry on.

"We've got some of the health centres that have shut down, nurses have been deployed from one area to another area. Anything that is not as usual should be a concern to anyone. I know that they are doing their best as far as the medical situation is concerned but I feel that if we see the closure of medical centres, etcetera, that we have a concern for the people who are in that surrounding area."

Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau says she hopes the nurses can understand that the country's economic situation can only allow for their pay to be restored slowly.