So members of the two staff unions at the University of the South Pacific will vote later today (Wednesday) on a motion calling for strike action in support of their demand for the removal of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia.
The Coalition government has given permission for a union ballot on Professor Ahluwalia’s position but not for the reinstatement of the dismissed union leader, Dr Tamara Osborne, who was sacked for allegedly leaking confidential internal information to the media. Compulsory negotiations on the sacking are proceeding under the aegis of the Ministry of Employment. Which leaves union members at USP to decide solely whether to withdraw their services and disrupt the education of students in their quixotic quest to remove the Vice Chancellor when he still has the support of the USP Council, including Fiji.
It is striking to an outsider how naive the leaders of the two USP unions are being are in trying to encourage their members to go on strike when anyone with a skerrick of political nous can so easily line up the ducks in this dispute. Grubsheet has copped a great deal of animosity from the union hierarchy for pointing out the bleeding obvious – that while Professor Ahluwalia continues to enjoy the support of the USP Council, it isn’t for the workers – the staff at USP – to demand his removal.
I keep getting accused of being Ahluwalia’s PR person. But that comes with the territory if you question the union narrative and try to evaluate this issue on its merits. The record shows that I have consistently stood up for stability at USP, whether it was applying the blowtorch to the FijiFirst government for withholding Fiji’s financial contribution or refusing to support the union campaign to remove the VC when he still has the support of the Council. My sole motivation is the welfare of USP and more particularly the interests of its students.
So let’s again outline the issues as Grubsheet sees them as members of the two unions prepare to vote to go on strike in a ballot that according to advice sent to the members, will take place at the Laucala campus from midday to 4.00PM today. (see below)
1/ The unions have got the substantial pay rises they were demanding that Pal Ahluwalia resisted because he argued they were excessive but that he was eventually pressured into accepting in the interests of averting strike action.
2/ Last week, Professor Ahluwalia also acceded to the union demand that he return to Suva from the USP campus in Samoa, from where he was running the University after his dead-of-night deportation from Fiji by the previous government. He is now back on the Laucala campus in his official residence and visible on campus on a daily basis.
3/ The USP Council continues to have confidence in Pal Ahluwalia, including, evidently, the Fijian government. He was reportedly seen at the official welcome for the visiting President of India last week in the company of several senior Coalition ministers.
4/ So the the VC is back in Fiji and has the backing of most of the USP’s principal stakeholders – those nations who pay its way. What possible justification can the USP unions have to go on strike to remove him? Where else in the world does the staff tell the management what to do? This is the lunacy that has taken hold at USP and now threatens the education of the region’s young people, which ought to be the principal concern of all concerned but sadly isn’t.
As Grubsheet understands it, the USP unions represent just 42 per cent of the University’s staff. So even if a ballot of members today achieves a 100 per cent vote in favour of strike action, it doesn’t represent the majority of USP staff.
Here’s how Grubsheet understands the numbers stack up. And it’s for the benefit of the wider community and especially students and their parents, because none of this has been covered in the mainstream media:
Of the 602 academic and professional staff, only 255 are members of the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff. (42 per cent) And of the 763 administration and support staff, only 316 are members of the Administration and Support Staff Union. (41 per cent)
So of the combined total of 1365 USP staff, only 571 are union members. Let’s see how many of them are prepared to endure the blowtorch of public opprobrium if they vote to strike today and withdraw their services. Because in the court of public opinion, they can expect to be roasted.
Grubsheet understands that Pal Ahluwalia is telling those around him that he is going nowhere and intends to fight as hard as possible to resist being removed. He is also said to have the backing of the Coalition government, including it is now said, a union stalwart in the form of the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Agni Deo Singh. Why? Because the last thing the Fijian government needs is a strike at USP and especially one that cannot be defended because pay rises have been granted, the Vice Chancellor has returned to Fiji, and now it’s a case of the unions merely not liking the boss. Tough.
When they vote today, let’s hope union members are at least smart enough to put their own interests first. Because Grubsheet also understands that they will not be paid for the duration of any strike and if it is prolonged, it is they and their families who will suffer. But let’s also hope they take into account the attitude of USP students and parents and the uproar that will undoubtedly be generated if any classes are affected at all. Because as things stand, from where many of them sit, the unions have lost the plot.
Other Union luminaries, Elizabeth Fong – who has accused Grubsheet of being “Pal Ahluwalia’s PR person” for daring to question the union position – and the dismissed Dr Tamara Osborne.
NOTE: Our article of the judiciary has been held over but will appear soon with additional material.
A great pity the students don’t come out and show their angst against the shenanighans of Rabuka’s government. Because the recent actions of their erstwhile parliamentarians (benefits in cash and in kind increases), the judiciary decision making are in shambles, there is no effective opposition party in parliament and the list goes on. And now, the PM, together with his wife and his entourage are on a 10 day mission to communist China, while the country is slowly sinking into a cesspool.
Yup, the students have certainly got their “knickers in the twist”!
The power of students led to the collapse of the Bangladeshi Government. The student council should demand academics to teach or ship out, as return on investment for student fees is paramount, as opposed to the union and VC’s self-interest.