The report above is pretty much the standard, mainstream view of the strike. What about some in depth reporting? Why is it that the public sector unions on strike are ethnic Fijian unions, supporters of the Qarese government and opponents of the Interim Government? Why don't the Indo-Fijian unions support the strikes?
The reason is that Fiji is race divided including the unions. This has got worse since the coups of 1987 which were against the Labour coalitions plans to try to develop Fiji in the interests of the masses and not only the traditional elites. Both Rabuka and Speight covered up their plans to privatise Fiji in the interests of the rich elites by scaremongering that Labour was going to take indigenous land. Some irony!
Qarese's government continued the policies of both earlier coups, Rabukas and Speights, in favour of the ethnic Fijians against the Indo-Fijians. Its plans to privatise the foreshore and seabed were similar to Speights ripping off of the state-owned hardwood corporation. It installed some of the coupmakers in government and even planned to release Speight. It bought the votes of the public sector unions with a wage increase and then paid for it by cutting other social services.
Bainimarama's 'clean up'campaign is designed to break this monopoly over Fiji's resources, especially the huge profits made by the chiefly elite while the masses of both races suffer increasing poverty. That's why Chaudhry and others have joined his government.
But the ethnic Fijian dominated unions can see only the few crumbs that trickled down to them from the ethnic Fijian elite's corrupt program. The Teacher's Assoc is a good example being the first to recognise Speight's coup, even though he derecognised the unions!
Its time the ordinary workers and poor farmers of Fiji, both ethnic Fijian and Indo Fijian, realised that it is not in their interests to be divided and ruled by the corrupt elites and bureaucracy, and united against the elites and the new middle class of both races who control the economy.
Bainimarama cannot overcome the huge racial divisions that exist in Fiji, that can only be overcome by the ordinary people, once the scales drop off their eyes.
A start would be for the most advanced workers to call a congress of all unions to start the unity process and to demand a return to democracy based on a Constituent Assembly representing every Fijian over 16, and not the existing corrupt structures of the traditional elite or state bureaucracy.

Dave Brown CWG