(Adopted from an article written by Robin Mercer – the first Interim Secretary of the Union) (Ref: Annual Report March 1993 – March 1994 Pgs 10 -11)
From shortly after the signing of the Deed of Cession in 1874 until early 1961, the two major Banks in Fiji employed totally expatriate staff. The advent of the ANZ in the early 50’s and the Bank of Baroda in the 60’s did nothing to change this policy. The exceptions were the Europeans who were Fiji born and qualified for Bank employment purely on the basis of race. These few loyal recruits enjoyed the same privileges as the expatriate staff.
In the early 1961 Josaia Maivusaroko joined the BNZ as the first non - European to be employed by a Bank in Fiji. Other Banks quickly followed suit after the hastily conceived “Terms of Employment” was drawn up by the Banks Association. The generous “Tropical Allowances”, leave conditions and rent subsidies applicable for expatriates were not considered for the new local recruits however.
By 1965 local staff numbers had risen to around 200 country-wide, and discrimination in salary and conditions between the expatriate staff and the local staff were subject of frequent discussions, although it was recognized that over the period expatriate staff numbers had declined considerably and in most cases they were fulfilling tasks for which the local staff did not, at that point in time, have the experience to perform.
Nevertheless, there were some serious short comings in the “Terms of Employment” that had originally been drawn up unilaterally by the “Associated Banks”, shortcomings the Banks were not prepared to discuss. LOCAL STAFF AT THAT TIME FELT THAT IT WAS TIME TO FORM A NEGOTIATING BODY TO AIR THESE GRIEVANCES. IT WAS TIME TO FORM A UNION”.
THE UNION IS FORMED
An informal secret discussion took place between Josaia Maivusaroko and Tom Ricketts at the Rendezvous milk bar in Suva. A date was set for a meeting at Mr Mercer’s Suva Point home to set up a steering committee and only carefully selected Bank employees were invited. Total secrecy was required in this very delicate formative stage. That Sunday Suva Point meeting in early 1966 was a great success.
Joe Maivusaroko was elected President of the Fiji Bank Officers Association, Tom Rickets – Vice President, Pramod Kapadia – Treasurer and Robin Mercer as Secretary.
Documents were prepared for submission to the Registrar of Trade Unions and we were to approach the Banks for union recognition. The majority of Bank staff approached, had willingly paid their first union dues of $1.00 per head.
Following the Suva point meeting, Mr Mercer approached Mr. Twentyman, chairman of the Association of Banks, for union recognition. He was taken completely by surprise and became most irate about his involvement and as one of his Chief Security Loans Officers his loyalty was severly questioned. He said the union’s question would be referred to Fiji Employers Consultative Association and he subsequently had discussions with Mr James Grundy, Executive of the Association.
My Grundy was a very fair man and in fact seemed quite sympathetic to our cause. It was apparent to him that the Union did indeed represent the majority of local Bank employees, and he subsequently informed the chairman of the Association of the Banks that they should recognize the union or be faced with a compulsory recognition order from the Registrar of Trade Unions.
THE FIRST LOG OF CLAIMS
Soon after followed the first Log of Claims of the Union and the first issue was not one of salaries as one would think, but rather one of “principle”. All local Bank employees were required to take out fidelity insurance policy to protect the Bank from theft by an employee. Expatriate staff were not required to do this. To add insult to injury, the local employees were required to meet the premiums on these policies. The union submitted that if the Banks wished to pursue such a discriminatory policy, then the Banks should pay the premiums, not the employees.
The first “Log of Claims” was submitted by the Union to the Banks in 1966. Negotiations followed with the officers of the Fiji Employers Consultative Association, chaired by Mr Grundy and attended by the managers of the three major Banks. The Bank of Baroda manager indicated he would abide by the outcome and did not attend. Joe Maivusroko, Tom Rickets and Robin Mercer represented the Union. The outcome was a success. The fidelity issue resolved and an across the board salary increase won.
THE FIJI BANK OFFICERS ASSOCIATION WAS WELL AND TRULY LAUNCHED. Membership increased although sadly there were individuals who would not join, but were quite happy to reap the benefits.
