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RD Tuna disregards workers rights and PNG laws
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August 1st 2010
RD Tuna disregards workers rights and PNG laws
Posted by rait man
By Nuahiva
ON JANUARY 21 this year the Minimum Wages Board declared that the minimum wage rate was to be
increased from K1.72 to K2.29 per hour.
Weeks later RD Tuna tried to seek an exemption from that wage rate. The fishing and canning company wrote
to the government seeking recognition as an agriculture company just so it would avoid paying Papua New
Guineans the minimum wage determined by Papua New Guinea government regulations.
While the company could have paid the minimum wage in the interim, it chose to tell its workers through the
workers’ union that it would not pay the minimum wage until clarification was given by the government.
Well, clarification was given by the government. David Tibu, the Secretary for Labor then, took out a quarter
page advertisement in one of the dailies to inform all companies to implement the minimum wage rate of
K2.29. When queried by the workers, RD Tuna continued to maintain that they were still waiting
for government clarification!
On Tuesday July 27, workers who had been on strike for the last 6 days gathered outside the factory
premises and demanded answers from the company. None of the Filipino managers showed up to address
the crowd. Instead Madang’s Provincial Labor officer, Peter Neimani, told workers exactly what they knew all
along: “the company was at fault when it did not pay the minimum wage.
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But that did not stop a senior RD Tuna Manager, Elmer Moderno from placing 505 workers on what he
called: “preventative suspension.” According to workers, Moderno also threatened them with mass
termination.
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During the meeting outside the factory premises, workers were told that they would begin receiving the new
minimum wage on August 6 th. However, their accumulated back-pay would not be given to them yet
because “it was in excess of 2 million kina and the company would need to assess how it would pay the
workers.”
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On Wednesday, July 28, word came out from some of the 505 suspended workers that RD Tuna had began
recruiting new workers and that the first batch of 78 were undergoing medical tests. This again, becomes
another example of this Filipino owned company attempting to bend the rules to suit its needs. It would be
cheaper to recruit new workers and pay them the minimum wage then to reinstate the employees it
suspended and pay them the 2 million kina in backdated wages on top of the minimum wage. The 505
workers are being penalized for standing up for their rights.
Reality Bites !
Earlier, this year, more than 50 Papua New Guinean seafarers were “displaced.” Without giving any official
reason, the seafarers were told they could not board RD Tuna fishing boats where they worked. A vast
majority were then given land based jobs as casual laborers. RD Tuna won’t officially admit that the
seafarers were displaced because they were in negotiations to be included as part of the PNG Maritime
Workers Union – their constitutional right.
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According to the seafarers, RD management called them into a meeting and demanded that they cease their
negotiations with the Maritime Workers Union. RD Tuna even tried reimbursing their membership fees which
they had already paid to the maritime workers union.
For RD Tuna, it appears that Papua New Guinea’s laws designed to protect its workers are a hindrance to
profit and unions who stand up for the rights of workers are seen as an obstacle.
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It is understood that after the displacement of the Papua New Guinean seafarers, RD Tuna, recruited about
60 Filipino seafarers to replace them.
In April, police grounded an RD Tuna vessel and began investigating the death of a Papua New Guinean
Fisheries Officer who was murdered on board the vessel Dolores 838 allegedly by RD’s Filipino workers.
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According to media reports, the Officer had been attempting to save dolphins who were caught in RD Tuna’s
nets. It is also understood that there was only one other person on board the vessel who would stand up for
his countryman. Following investigations six Filipino workers have been arrested for the murder of the
Fisheries observer and they will appear in court on Friday 30th July 2010.
Tags: union membership, trade unions, murder, workers rights, minimum wage, Madang, tuna industry,
RD tuna
rait man's blog
1 comment on "RD Tuna disregards workers rights and PNG laws "
Tanya (visitor) said on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 14:51:
Madang, MOMASE, PNG.......BOYCOTT RD products......... we keep them in business and support them
when we buy their products..... take a stand and boycott RD products, lobby others to do the same. I
once loved spicy Dolly tinfish, but I have taken my stand for justice; NO RD products as long as I have
the buying power......... http://emnaupng.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/a-call-for-passive-resistance/
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23/09/2011
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