LORA Tukuna stares hard at the ceiling, desperately trying to conceal
the tears in her eyes.
She shakes her head in disbelief at the current political situation which
has caused her to lose her job at a nearby garment factory.
But at the mention of her five kids and what their future holds Lora
just cannot contain her emotions as she breaks down and weeps
bitterly.
Life has never been so difficult for Lora and her family as it is now.
With rents and bills to pay at a low cost settlement in Vatuwaqa, Lora
can only hope for the best.
With no leave entitlements or severance pay, her cupboards are
emptying quickly and so is her emergency bank account which she
had saved so hard for.
"I am very disappointed with the crisis and want it to end quickly,"
Lora said with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I don't know where to get money from for our food and the education
of my children."
Across the road Tomasi and Viniana Sata are slowly coming to terms
with the same dilemma.
They too were laid off two weeks ago.
While Tomasi worked as a casual labourer at the Marine Department, Viniana
was a cleaner at a ministerial
office.
With six teenage children, the Sata family is frightened that the political
unrest may never come to an end.
Tomasi is very conscious and very scared of the fact that one day they might
have to turn to crime if worse comes
to worst.
"It's not our fault that we have been laid off and so are thousands of
other families," Tomasi said with a stern
voice.
"Where will we get our next meal from or the money to send my children
to school."
"If this crisis does not stop or if no one comes to rescue the poor then
I'm sorry to say we will all start to turn to
crime and that would be very sad."
As I made my way to the nearest bus stop, I noticed a teenage boy selling cassava
by the road side.
He was reluctant to talk but after convincing him that his identity would not
be revealed he started to talk.
"I am in form five and I am worried that I might not be going to school
when the term starts," he said.
"My mother was sent home last week because her boss could not pay her any
more so now we have to sell
cassava that grows by our house to survive."
The boys eyes were now glistening with tears which he desperately tried to
hold back.
"I want to be a teacher and take care of my mother and my two younger brothers
but now I can't go to school."
As I waved him goodbye and boarded the bus I happened to meet up with an schoolmate
making her way to
town.
Meci (not her real name) had a different story to tell, actually she was on
her way to start on her new job after
being laid off two weeks ago.
This took me by surprise, given the local economic and political conditions.
However Meci has landed no ordinary job.
She has now joined the ranks of sex workers, that's right, she is now a prostitute.
Meci said she and two former work mates really had no choice but to turn to
prostitution as that is the only
available source of income at the moment.
"We have families to look after, I know it is immoral, what else can we
do?"
Meci asked as I looked at her with sympathy.
"My husband was laid off as a taxi driver two days ago and he does not
know what I am doing but I am doing
this for my two children."
These are just some of the examples the people in Fiji are facing as the current
political situation continues.
The Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations continues to highlight job
losses everyday with redundancy
figures sky-rocketing to about 1,000 a week.
According to a survey, by the ministry more than 4,000 have already lost their
jobs since the May 19 coup.
In the latest up-date, the ministry confirmed that a total of 4,122 people
have been laid off.
"The ministry's country-wide survey on the current status of labour market
revealed further redundancies and
closure of some businesses," a statement from the ministry said.
The ministry blames the current political crisis for the continuing job losses.
Mass redundancies for factory garment workers are expected as the effects of
the New Zealand trade unions ban
are felt.
Since May 19 more than 4,000 workers have been sent home as raw material for
Fiji factories piles up on
Australian and now New Zealand docks.
A spokesman for garment manufacturers in the west, Graham Moscow said, 500
more machinists would lose
their jobs if there is no raw material.
He said the garment industry will never return to what it was before.
"The garment industry is seeing its days of doom and may never be able
to recover to its fullest potential,"
Moscow said.
"We sympathise with the workers and know about their financial hardship
but there is nothing we can do with
the sanctions in place."
The tourism industry has taken the brunt of the crisis with hotels and resort
workers being laid off as business is
slow.
The latest survey saw more than 1,000 being laid of in the past four weeks.
The political crisis will see Fiji lose about $20 million in tourism earnings.
The high rate of redundancy and high cost of living has seen the Ministry of
Labour calling on employers and
workers associations to be responsible and understand the difficulties faced
by workers.
"As previously reported the worst impact continues to be in the garment,
tourism and manufacturing industries,"
the Ministry of Labour statement said.
"We are requesting employers to observe the provisions of the Employment
Act (Section 250) when they lay-off
workers the payment of all outstanding wages, notice pay and leave entitlement
should be made.
"Similarly, workers who are union members should resort to the provisions
in their Collective Agreements.
The ministry said it has also asks employers to make redundancy the last resort
and consider other options like
reducing hours or a shorter working week.
A ministry spokesperson said workers who feel aggrieved by the actions of the
employers particularly in regards
to the payment of wages upon termination should seek the assistance of the ministry.
"Employers are urged to put in place initiatives that will protect the
continued employment of their workers in
order to alleviate the hardships we are currently facing."
But even when the current political crisis comes to an end, business will take
time to get back to its feet and
re-employ the thousands that have been laid off.
This means that families like Lora's, the Sata's and even Meci will have to
rely on their initiatives and creativity for
their next meal.
And of course, a little dose of luck will certainly help.
Fiji's Daily Post
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