24 Jun 2015

ILO rep for Fiji and Pacific moved out of Fiji

10:19 am on 24 June 2015

The International Labour Organisation's representative in Fiji, David Lamotte, has confirmed he is being transferred out of Fiji.

Mr Lamotte has been the Director of the Country Office of the ILO since 2011. The office looks after the Pacific's nine member states.

He has been based in Suva and confirmed this morning that he is being transferred to work in Bangkok.

Mr Lamotte could not confirm any details around his departure but said ILO may be making an official statement today.

The ILO has had a shaky relationship with Fiji.

Talks this year between the Government, trade unions and the ILO on Fiji's labour laws have stalled.

The ILO told the Government in March that it had not honoured an agreement it signed to discuss law amendments.

The ILO threatened it would launch an inquiry if the Government did not honour the agreement.

The ILO says it had "positive" talks with Fiji officials in October last year.

A ILO delegation to Fiji in 2012 was told to abandon its meetings with the unions and to leave the country, after the Government said it had come with predetermined outcomes and was not independent.

The ILO office in Suva looks after all the Pacific member states: Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.