INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY
- Some reflections
from Fr Kevin Barr
Today we are
celebrating the international day of peace. Peace is something we
all want to see in our world and in or country. Governments want
peace and our government sends peace keeping forces to various
troubled spots in the world. And of course peace is good for
business. So everyone wants peace and prays for peace.
But there is
a price to pay if we really want peace. There is a saying which goes:
“If you want peace you must work for justice.” Thus justice –
social justice – is a pre-requisite for peace.
Unfortunately
some people think that if we fight for social justice we are
promoting confrontation and conflict and that this is opposed to
peace. However Johannes Galtung (an authority on peace building) says
that if we want peace we must open our eyes and identify and address
the various forms of structural violence or injustice at work in our
society. This structural violence can be in the form of racism,
discrimination, poverty, inequality, exploitation or exclusion.
History has
shown that there is a strong (but complex) correlation between
failure to address structural injustice and the growth of
instability, violence and crime. We only have to think of the recent
uprisings in some Arab countries in Africa and the Middle East as
well as the recent riots in London, Rome, France Spain and India.
I say all
this because talking about peace can appear to be a very comfortable
and romantic idea and it becomes very easy to gloss over the
realities of structural violence and injustice that need to be
addressed
One of the
big issues of social justice around the world has been the issue of
just wages. We have seen uprisings in China for an increase in wages
and very recently strikes in the South African mining industry for
large wage increases. Riots in France and Spain have also revolved
around wage issues.
Here in Fiji
also we are witnessing a lot of injustice surrounding wages. For 36
years the evidence shows that employers have continually opposed
decent wages increases. And, because wages have not kept up with the
current cost of living, we have seen an increase in levels of
poverty. Currently at least 60% - 70% of our workers in full-time
employment receive wages below the poverty line. Thus the
deterioration in wages over the years has led to a dramatic increase
in poverty. Nearly two thirds of our population either live in
poverty or close to poverty. (Yet many employers deny the connection
between unjust wages and poverty.)
In my four
years as Chairman of the ten Wages Councils I have seen the setting
of three wage adjustments. The first was deferred for 6 months, the
second was deferred for almost a year and was also decreased by 5%
and the third most recent one was deferred by three months. And each
time there was no consultation with me or the members of the Wages
Councils. The deferments were due to the interference of a small
lobby of selfish and greedy employers who went to their friends in
government to by-pass the due process and autocratically cause
deferments and decreases in the modest proposals for wage
increases.
I finally
resigned as Chair of the Wages Councils in strong and public protest
against this group of selfish, greedy employers and also against
government for allowing their interference against the interests of
the workers of the country. How can we honestly say we want to see
poverty alleviated if we do not provide just wages for our workers?
In
an address in early August 2011 defending the Essential National
Industries (Employment) Decree, the Attorney General, Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum, said:
“The
Bainimarama Government, as you can see from our track record,
has been on the forefront of improving wages for those workers
who have been on the margin of poverty.” (Fiji
Times 8th August)
This
statement is far from the truth.
Our
present government has not just been extremely pro-employer and
pro-investor, it has been anti-union, anti-worker and anti-poor. It
has a lot to answer for and it is no surprise that the visiting ILO
team was sent packing a couple of days ago.
[We
cannot pretend that we have peace if strong controls are set in place
which prevent people from expressing their opinions and voicing
opposition and where an atmosphere of fear pervades society. A
forcefully controlled society may seem peaceful on the outside but
inside it can be a boiling cauldron of discontent which can erupt at
any time.]
On
our T-Shirts you will find the message for today –
- Just Peace (meaning Peace comes as a result of fighting for justice).
- And on the back of the T-shirts is a biblical message from the Letter of James 5:4: “Listen to the wages you kept back, calling out; Realise that the cries of the workers have reached the ears of the Lord.”
On this
International Day for Peace we want to stress that Peace demands
justice and for us in Fiji today just wages is an issue of justice we
must fight for if we do not want to see further poverty and
inequality.
Working for
peace can be a very acceptable project but fighting against injustice
can cause strong opposition from many. It is a strange fact that
many of those who have worked for peace by addressing injustice in
their societies have been assassinated – Jesus of Nazareth,
Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Steve Biko, Martin Luther King,
Deitrich Bonhofffer, Archbishop Oscar Romero, John and Robert
Kennedy. Usually it was not their desire for peace which stirred up
opposition but the fact that they worked against the structural
injustices which stood in the way of peace.
Peace is
ultimately a never-ending struggle to overcome various forms of
injustice and it demands courage and determination. One great
consolation is the realization that when we work for justice we have
God on our side.
Thank you and
may God bless you all.
It is good
to note that Government has Social Justice as one of its
non-negotiables for the new Constitution. However, if government
considers that social justice is really so important, why does it not
make sure we have social justice here and now?
Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace.
Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace.
Where
there is hatred, let me sow love
Where
there is injury, let me sow pardon,’
Where
there is doubt, let me sow faith,
Where
there is despair, let me sow hope,
Where
there is darkness, let me sow light,
Where
there is sadness, let me sow joy.
O
Divine Master!
Grant
that I may not so much seek
To
be consoled as to console,
To
be understood, as to understand,
To
be loved, as to love.
For,
It
is in giving, that we receive,
It
is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It
is in dying that we are born to eternal
Life.
(St
Francis of Assisi)
3 comments:
It's pretty simple Croz. Fr Barr is no longer considered a government supporter so he should expectl life to become more difficult. This has been the standing operating model for more than 5 years now.
Why do you think there has been a complete lack of Fiji's wealthy business people and industry bodies presenting to the constitution commission ? The reason is they don't want to say the wrong thing, offend the AG or military and find life difficult for themselves.
Frankly I'm surprised he got away with the speech.
'friends in government' and bypassing 'due process'' ? Sounds a lot like the sort of corruption Frank has accused Qarase and all past governments of ? Perhaps FICAC should be call in or does their mandate only cover corruption up to December 2006 ?
Enough of this rubbish, the sooner Frank is installed as King of Fiji the better. Then we will be told (and believe) we are are better off every day. There will no opposition, no marches and no silly speaches.
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