(Fiji Sun Picture by Leon Lord)
Shalveen Chand
Suva, Fiji, June 28, 2021
About 190 workers in a garment factory in Suva are now able to put food on the table for their families after they received the Covid-19 Vaccination.
This is in response to the ‘No Jab, No Job’ that companies like Performance Flotation Developments on Jerusalem Road in Vatuwaqa, have implemented.
It is in line with Fiji’s Health and Safety Act and employers are taking the cue with a duty to provide a safe-working environment for all their workers.
Safe environment paramount
Performance Flotation Development staff members Mohammed Khan, Simon Pene, Ravi Lachman, Emosi Bogi, Ro Vereto Tubalagi, Geoffrey Simpson and Zarina Hassan said that working in a safe environment is paramount.
They feel that Vaccination is the way forward because it not only helps provide for their families but also helps keep their homes and communities safe.
Managing Director Michael Towler has not yet come to the juncture to issue termination letters, at least not until the end of June 2021, saying that it was a collective decision.
“We have 188 of 197 staff back at work. The ones that are not here are trying to get vaccinated. Originally, this number was 16 and now it is just nine. Maybe we will get some of them vaccinated and have them come back to work,” he said.
Mr Towler said that the Company may to terminate some employees for non-compliance.
“I have to replace them. I cannot hold a job over forever. I believe that we have given them a fairly long time to get vaccinated. It has been several months. It is about a safe working environment. As we have seen in the community, we have had well over 2000 cases,” he said.
“It is getting worse. Probably the only way out of this is vaccination.”
Increasing compliance
Mr Towler’s action is not isolated. Many companies have set up Vaccination booths at their worksite to ensure that their workers abide with the soon-to-be guideline.
Lyndhurst, a garment factory is one such. It employs more than 1000 persons and has set up a vaccination site outside one of its factories in the Kalabu Tax Free Zone.
“Whilst the company respects the individual rights of its employees, this needs to be weighed against the rights of our staff who have been vaccinated, and the overall duty of care that the employer has to ensure that all employees in the Lyndhurst Group are safe,” an official statement said.
The Vaccination drive
More and more people are getting themselves vaccinated now. Perhaps the call from the government is being heard and people are realising the importance of vaccination.
Millions over the world have become vaccinated allowing nations to restore their economies and some to even open borders.
Life has somewhat gone back to normal with many even hosting international events in Fiji.
Many employers have said that more and more of their employees are getting vaccinated.
Standing in the line at Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital, Akuila Waqa said that he had realised that vaccination was not about just keeping people safe.
“My employer has not made Vaccination compulsory, but I feel that we need this. I want to be sure that I can provide for my family,” he said.
University student Albert Wasa said that as a young adult, he was getting vaccinated because he wanted things to be normal.
He said that he had seen news from the United States of America and Europe and that the only way of returning to normalcy was Vaccination. This is perhaps the only way forward.
Schools are closed for more than eight weeks now, many businesses still remain closed and people are still unemployed.
Shalveen Chand is a Reporter at Fiji Sun based in Suva. The above Report and Picture have been published under a Special Agreement with the Publication.
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