As the striking members of the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff and the USP Staff Union continue their strike today, USP, the USP Council and the Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro have not made any comments.
The unions are calling on the USP Council to take immediate action and suspend Vice Chancellor Pal Ahluwalia pending investigations.
They say they are protesting because of the ongoing poor leadership at the University.
The unions have expressed deep dissatisfaction following the recent release of the Special Council meeting outcome, which they say misleadingly framed serious grievances as mere HR issues to be investigated rather than investigating Ahluwalia.
The unions say they have been raising concerns for months regarding the Vice Chancellor's management of the University and disclosed in an independent Report on his performance to the Council in November 2023.
The two unions say while they respectfully waited for the Special Council to act, the outcome from the Secretariat is ambiguous and fails to honestly reflect the core issue – Vice Chancellor Ahluwalia’s leadership that is running the University into the ground.
The University said on Thursday night they will endeavour to ensure that disruptions to services are minimal.
We have sent questions to USP and Education Minister, Aseri Radrodro. They are yet to respond.
