Issue and Opponent: Tonga is a monarchy in which the king elects two-thirds of the parliament, leaving the country to have very little power. Unionization is not generally allowed by the king, but in 2005 a pay raise was given to senior public officials that was denied to other civil servants.
Dilemma Action: The commonly held belief is that people should have a say in their governance and that fair wages should be given for fair work. After the pay raises were given to senior officials, 2,000 out of 5,000 civil servants began a strike trying to gain the raises that had been given to their senior officials. 1,000 civil servants demonstrated in the capital, where they set up tents in a park nearby the building and shared food, and song, and spoke about their intentions for many weeks. Parliament members who were democratically elected threatened to walk out in solidarity with the demonstrators. The Prime minister begged the workers to return, which they refused. Soon many services were forced to close due to the lack of workers. 1,400 teachers joined the strike, resulting in the closing of the schools. After the strike continued, New Zealand got involved as a mediator. The lose-lose here was to either destroy the economy and essential services by allowing the strike to continue indefinitely and raise political tensions or to meet the protestor’s demand and give pay raises.
Outcomes: The demands were increasingly ignored, so the strikers added to their demands. These new demands included the resignation of the cabinet, as well as a fully elected parliament. The government offered 60-80% pay raises instead, which the demonstrators accepted. The cabinet then said they would review the constitution to make it more democratic and would consider allowing workers’ unions. New Zealand pressured Tonga to become more democratic. Now, there are a higher amount of democratically elected seats in parliament, but the country is still a constitutional monarchy in which the King reserves many powers. This action was part of a larger campaign for a more democratic Tonga.