The staff of the University of the South Pacific are now up in arms at the decision by the Pro-Chancellor, Doctor Hilda Heini to disallow the Staff Paper on the Agenda of the 96th USP Council Meeting that will convene from Monday at the Laucala Campus.
The USP staff are now planning to show their dissatisfaction at USP management and Vice Chancellor for not negotiating in good faith.
Association of the USP Staff President, Elizabeth Fong and USP Staff Union President, Reuben Colata say their main issue is the staff salary increases which are not being addressed by the USP management.
Fong says the USP Management refuses to discuss or negotiate the salary adjustment for 2019-2023 and the final course of action was to bring the matter to the USP Council for resolution in preference to industrial action.
They also say the 4 percent increases (Oct 2022 2 percent not backdated) and (Jan 2023 2 percent) were not negotiated with the unions and regarded as `bad faith’.
Fong says the staff deserve recompense for services rendered and the request is fair and just.
She says the financials of the university as reported to Council over the period 2019-2023 confirm ability to pay.
They also ask if the Fiji National University can pay for increments and bonuses, why isn’t the premier institution of higher education able to do the same.
The decision not to include the Staff Paper was conveyed in an email to Rosalia Fatiaki, Staff Representative to Council by the Secretary to Council earlier this week.
Fong and Colata say the paper is in response to the decision of the May 2023 USP Council Meeting where its attention was drawn to the many unresolved issues faced by the staff over the period 2021 to May 2023 and some earlier, despite meetings of the Staff Policy Committee and the management and union quarterly meetings which are chaired by the Vice Chancellor.
They say the university management only found it necessary to respond to issues when the Association of USP Staff filed a Log of Claims in October 2023.
Fong and Colata say Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia then appointed the Chief Operating Officer and the Executive Director People and Workforce Strategy to engage with the Union.
The union representatives say it is without a doubt that the Pro Chancellor was in consultation with the Vice Chancellor and President on the Paper to whom the Secretariat reports.
Fong and Colata say the Vice Chancellor has on occasion indicated that he has a say in whether a Staff Paper can be on the Council Agenda.
The staff from across the region met earlier this week and are aggrieved and angry at the refusal of the Pro Chancellor and Vice Chancellor to allow their voice to be heard at the USP Council.
Fong and Colata say this is the same Vice Chancellor that the staff stood for in his hour of greatest need, the same staff who took risks to ensure that he was given worker justice and the opportunity to prove his worthiness of the Vice Chancellor position, and that he was a likely party to a decision to disallow the Staff paper is indicative of the Vice Chancellor Ahluwalia’s leadership style which has become very clear to staff.
They say it is also a conflict of interest given that there is a statement on the Vice Chancellor position in the document.
Fong and Colata say the Vice Chancellor is well aware of the concerns of the staff regarding the appointment of Doctor Mahendra Reddy who was a member of the Government who was party to the trauma he and his wife continue to suffer from and a former member of staff who did not stand for the University and academic freedom but who now enjoys a salary of a senior fellow in the range of $104,000 to $120,000.
The Union Presidents say this appointment is a slap in the face of the staff especially when they are aware of other regionals whose deserved market loading payments were removed in new contract offers.
The Union Presidents also ask if the issue of the Vice Chancellor’s return to Laucala will be discussed or will this be the reason to remain in Samoa due to a technicality that will continue to cost the University a per diem of $4300 for every 7 days spent in Suva.
Fong and Colata say the staff will not take these issues sitting down as they did not take the Vice Chancellor’s treatment by the former Government.
They say the staff were not penalized by HR or the University in any way when staff stood in working hours for the Vice Chancellor’s rights as a worker.
They anticipate that the same will be applied should the staff choose to stand up in a peaceful manner for what they believe is their right.
The USP Staff have also congratulated Professor Unaisi Nabobo on her appointment to the position of Vice Chancellor FNU and they hope that the USP will take a leaf out of the FNU book.
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