Class War in Pacific Islands

HAWAII is a faraway place I'd associate with fantastic holidays, hula skirts, ukuleles and a long gone TV police series, naturally more blue sky than film noire. Apart from its being the only US state with a union jack in its flag, I've little idea of its history from the death of Captain Cook in a fight to the attack on Pearl Harbour, and more recently the birth of Barack Obama.

Happy the nation without history, as someone said, but thanks to a Facebook page called Bread and Roses, I learn that on this day 75 years ago a place called Hilo in Hawaii took its place in both Pacific island and US labour history.

"The 'HILO MASSACRE' occurred on August 1, 1938, in Hilo, Hawaii, when over 70 police officers attempted to disband 200 unarmed protesters during a dock strike, and injured 50 of the demonstrators. The strike leading to the Hilo Massacre was a multi-ethnic, multi-union mass effort that began on February 4, 1938. The unions involved were the Honolulu Waterfront Workers’ Association, the Inland Boatmen’s Union (IBU), the International Longshoremen and Warehousmen’s Union (ILWU), the Metal Trades Council, the Quarryworkers International Union of North America and the Women's Auxiliary of the ILWU.

"Workers demanded wages equal to what workers on the West Coast earned, among other demands. On the other side was the Inter-Island Steamship Company, owned by one of the “Big Five” companies that dominated Hawaii’s economic and political scene at that time—Castle & Cooke, and by the Matson Navigation Company.

"The Inter-Island Steamship Company refused the workers’ demands, leading to a strike at the port where the SS Waialeale, crewed by scabs, was to arrive. About 170-180 workers were on the docks when police opened fire with shotguns on the unarmed strikers. The 50 workers injured included two women and two children.

"We remember".

For more on the massacre, including video footage:
http://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/Pubs/HiloMassacre.html
http://homepages.uhwo.hawaii.edu/clear/book1.html

...And now in Fiji

Coming up to date, and in another "island paradise", part of the British Commonwealth
Fijian sugar workers have voted to on strike, as reported by Radio Australia.

Fiji sugar workers vote to strike despite 'intimidation' (Credit: ABC)
Their union says attempts were made by to intimidate the union with police and military officers present at the polling places, and threats from management to forward the names of those participating in the ballot to the coup installed military government.

67.5 per cent of the membership voted, of which 90% voted in favour of strike action, which fulfils the legal requirement for strike action.
Sugar is vital to Fiji's economy, and the interim government is reported to have said the mills will be kept open despite a strike. That sets the stage for a potential showdown between the interim government and the trade union movement.
Sugar and General Workers Union General Secretary, Felix Anthony, says the Fiji Sugar Corporation and the interim government went to great lengths to stop workers participating in the strike vote.
Radio Australia has approached the interim government and the Fiji Sugar Corporation to comment, but neither has responded so far.

What Freedom in Fiji?

FIJIAN Isimeli "Bale" Bailewai, a former Lance Corporal in the British Army who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, has been given discretionary leave to remain in Britain while he appeals against deportation.

Soldiers from the Commonwealth can normally claim citizenship after four years' service. Bailewai, known to friends as Bale, has a British wife and two children. But under new rules he faced an 'automatic' denial due to a disciplinary procedure following a brawl in 2010.

There were reportedly five witnesses ready to testify that the incident in 2010 was self-defence, but Bailewai waived the right to legal counsel as he "just wanted it to go away".

There has been a public outcry over the way this ex-soldier has been treated, and a petition on his behalf. Now Bale and his family have been given a temporary breather, but the threat of deporatation remains.

Reading about this, I thought I should catch up on news about Fiji, to see what sort of life awaits in this Commonwealth "island paradise" which has seen two military coups in the past dozen years.

Item one: Fiji Trades Union Congress leader Felix Anthony has rejected the interim government’s claim that he did not file a complaint with police against the leader of the Fiji regime. The Permanent Secretary of Information, Sharon Smith-Johns, says Mr Anthony has reported some members of the military but neither the Prime Minister nor the Fijian government was included in the complaint.

Mr Anthony says he detailed last month to the Lautoka Police threats and assaults against him by military officers in February last year. He says he was punched and kicked by at least five soldiers, leaving him with a damaged eardrum and bruising that needed medical care.

He said he finally made the report after eighteen months after being urged to do so by authorities.

“The nature of the complaint was that I was assaulted by some military officers. The second part of the complaint was that the threat was made by the Prime Minister to me and my colleague. I actually named the Prime Minister and I quoted what he had actually said.”

Mr Anthony says he was given a case number and medical forms to fill in. He said he was told police will start investigating and they would keep him informed. Police have now declined to comment. In April, the military denied the allegations, with its spokesman saying if the complainants can give proof of an assault, it should be to the police.

The Information Ministry said at the time it couldn’t make any comments regarding the military.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=70090

Next, how is Fiji progressing towards restoring parliamentary democracy?

Several leading Fiji non government organisations have raised concerns about the legitimacy of the country’s constitution making process. FemLINKPACIFIC, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement also question the interim government’s so-called non-negotiable principles, its demand for immunity and the continuing constraints on the media.

Don Wiseman reports:

“They say next year’s Constituent Assembly should be made up of people who are truly representative of Fiji, not those hand-picked by the State. The groups say many of the non-negotiable principles are laudable but it is not for the State to dictate them. And they point out many key principles, such as freedom of expression and association, are missing. They say issues such as immunity have to be widely debated to encourage an atmosphere of justice, reconciliation and forgiveness. And the groups say it is common knowledge the media, though it is not directly censored, operates under pressure from the authorities. They say at the very least, there must be a strong assurance from Commodore Bainimarama guaranteeing freedom to the media, including the right to criticise his government.”

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=70144

Well that's what opposition groups say, but how about an outside observer's view?

The Law Society of England and Wales has attacked Fiji's interim government for taking contempt procedings against the Citizen's Consitutional Forum.

Nigel Dodds, the Chair of the Law Society Charity, says the contempt proceedings are a "monstrous assault" on free speech.

Interviewed on ABC Australian radio, Mr.Dodds says:

"Well, I was there in November of last year and I produced a report which has been approved by the Law Society of England and Wales and we have found that there is a significant absence of process and procedures, conditions of the rule of law in Fiji. These involve principle lack of freedom of association, a lack of freedom of expression, and most particularly an inability of Fijian citizens to be able to make any lawful challenge against the actions of the government".

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacific/radio/program/pacific-beat/fiji-government-guilty-of-monstrous-assault-on-free-speech-law-soc/990620

From time to time we hear about people accused or even convicted on serious criminal charges such as inciting or carrying out acts of terrorism, who cannot be deported or extradited for fear they might face ill-treatment or torture under some dictatorial regime. (Though in the case of Italian fascists for example they could not be extradited to face criminal charges because either the Home Office seemed to lose the papers or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office looked after its friends).

Perhaps Bale would be safer here if he had been a serious criminal or convicted terrorist rather than merely a soldier who evidently defended himself in a barracks fight.

And should any of the Fijian military who have made coups and ruled by force be obliged in future to flee to these shores, what's the betting our government would welcome them, especially if they come with loot?