Yesterday saw significant progress in the Tongan civil servants strike, with the Princess Regent leading a Cabinet delegation to the strikers to promise that their demand for an interim pay rise while negotiations continued would be met. However, the deal was rejected, with strikers wanting further guarantees that they would not face retribution if they returned to work. And they can afford to wait: the recent trip to Auckland by strike representatives reportedly resulted in New Zealand unions donating $100,000 to support the strike. That sort of money goes a long way in Tonga, and will allow the strikers to outlast the government.
(BTW, if you'd like to directly support the strikers, email Marga Moa for details of a bank account to throw money into. If you're in Auckland, you can also show your support in the march on Saturday)
The strikers have also made explicit their demand for democracy, calling for a fully elected Parliament and Cabinet. A cynic would say that that is why the present (unelected) Cabinet - which has repeatedly claimed that the government cannot afford even an interim pay rise - was suddenly willing to give in - because if there were free and fair elections, it would be them who was out of a job...
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