Institute in formation · Suva · Fiji first harbour

Workplace relations for people the region has neglected.

The Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations is the consultant that fills the void. We help national unions stand up, then we stay for programmes and awareness. We do not own those unions.

Fiji first harbour Write to PIWR

PIWR mark: navy shield, five figures holding hands

Fijian women crew of the Seakati II on the vessel’s bow in port — Seakati II crew, Fiji. Photo: Fiji Times / FFA coverage of women entering the Pacific fishing industry.

The job

One institute. Many neglected workplaces.

Fishers out of Fiji ports are the first harbour so PIWR can learn. After that: seasonal horticulture workers, household and domestic workers, and other Pacific workplaces that have no union and no quiet room. The circle inside the shield is that constituency — not a single trade.

First harbour

Seasonal work

Horticulture and other labour pathways. Tools that also reach the family at home. First tech already running out of Vanuatu.

Crew hauling tuna on a Pacific fishing deck

At sea and at home

Deck work, household work, and the families who wait on shore. The same workplace rights, a quieter room.

How we stand

Consultant. Not the octopus.

Until a union can stand on its own, PIWR administers its office through Banati Sefeti as transitional General Secretary and a GS Assistant to be appointed. When the union can stand, it speaks for itself.

Unions in other Pacific countries do not come under PIWR. We may help them register under their own law. That is all.

Fiji is the first harbour so the Institute can learn, then help other countries stand up their own fishers’ unions.

First client: Conservation International — Fiji Programme. Funding may be CI alone, or CI with ILO.