The recent national uproar over the salary increases Fiji’s members of parliament gave themselves has overshadowed another significant sector pay rise – an unpublicised deal last month that removed the threat of strike action at the University of the South Pacific.
The deal was done at the beginning of June (see below) but has had no coverage in the national media – astonishing in itself given the long and tense standoff between the USP unions and the Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, that attracted the attention of Grubsheet back in May.
Back then, we reported that Pal Ahluwalia was holding the line on union demands, maintaining that USP simply couldn’t afford them, and especially given the $84-million that Fiji still owed the university in outstanding budget contributions severed by the FijiFirst government.
What has changed since then? In the recent budget, the Finance Minister, Biman Prasad, allocated just $5-million to meet that shortfall, though he at least paid Fiji’s annual grant of $33.5 million for the coming year. So Fiji still owes USP $79-million and that is obviously having a continuing impact on the University’s budgetary position.
So if there is still a shortfall and the Vice Chancellor’s position is that USP can’t afford to pay the unions what they want, how come they came to a deal six weeks ago that the rest of us weren’t told about? Incredibly, Grubsheet understands that the Vice Chancellor was simply instructed to pay the money.
One report has it that Biman Prasad told him not to worry – that Fiji would make up any budgetary shortfall caused by the wage rise. Why? Because the Coalition government is desperate to avoid strike action at USP. Another account has it that the Vice Chancellor also came under pressure from other member nations on the University’s Council.
Yet yielding to the USP unions hasn’t improved the University’s financial position. On the contrary. Grubsheet understands the cost of giving in to these demands is going to paid in jobs. One account has it that up to 300 positions may have to go, not just because of the pay rise but other pressures. And if that is true, what a pyrrhic victory this has proved to be. The short-term benefit to staff of a new pay deal is going to involve a lot of long-term pain.
The contents of the pay rise announcement to staff isn’t particularly startling at first glance because it involves incremental payments that at first seem relatively modest. Yet all up since the Covid pandemic, it amounts to a 23 per cent pay rise for academic staff and 30 per cent for intermediate and junior staff, at a cost of $7.6-million a year.
Small wonder that it wasn’t publicised. The whole thing has gone under the radar in the furore over the extraordinary salary and benefits increases to the nation’s MPs. But given that there are more than 1300 staff at USP, it is still a significant contributor to the wages explosion that now threatens the national economy.
The latest figures from the Reserve Bank show that the annual inflation rate to June was 6.7 per cent, down from a decade-high peak of 7.1 per cent in April but still way too high. So pay rises for the more privileged and those with muscle in Fiji are coming at the expense of higher prices for good and services. This obviously affects everyone but hits low income earners the hardest.
Few people in Fiji seem to comprehend the grave economic challenge Fiji currently faces – a nation being steadily depopulated as tens of thousands leave (some estimates have us back to a population in the 800,000s), a shrinking tax base, poor investment and a prime income earner in tourism that is highly vulnerable to global instability and a single climate event.
We needed our leaders in the parliament to set an example of restraint but they have sorely let us down. Their profligacy in enriching themselves has given the green light for others to say “what about me?” without anyone appearing to realise that it all comes at a cost. And not just in economic terms but in the widening gap between “haves” and “have nots” in Fiji and the impact on social cohesion and stability. What is in the minds of minimum wage earners getting 50 cents an hour more from August 1 when they see people on six figure salaries getting a quarter more?
Biman Prasad warned that the country couldn’t afford MPs to gorge themselves at the public trough and was overruled. Now, it appears, he has given in to pressure from his cabinet colleagues to pressure the USP into caving in to the pay demands of its staff because the Coalition government is in the thrall of the unions and fears the threat of industrial action when its electoral position is already parlous.
We’ll be watching that monthly inflation figure on the Reserve Bank website with more than usual interest from now on. But one way or another, there are already ominous signs that this isn’t going to end well. At USP or in the wider economy.
NOTE: I am being a lot tougher on comments. Any that are irrelevant, repetitious, excessively querulous, abusive or spread disinformation are going on the cyber equivalent of the spike.
The record shows that I am happy to be challenged and defend my opinions. But not for the first time, some recent correspondence has crossed the line and is tiresome as well as malevolent. If you don’t like what I write, start your own website.
Are the mainstream journalists of Fiji running scared like they now are in Indonesia? https://theconversation.com/journalists-in-indonesia-are-being-killed-threatened-and-jailed-a-new-draft-law-could-make-things-even-worse-234564
This USP saga has been on going for almost 2 decades now.
Some of these calling themselves academics and professors and are thinking that USP is a cash cow.
Favours for families, relatives, school mates and friends.
Successive government has been sitting down with audited reports.
Bloody set up team, do thorough investigation and put these people into prison if found guilty or deport them asap.
Funds are for future generations, the very kids whose parents have paid hard earned taxes.
USP has been in news for almost 10 years every week or second day.
Today we have a educated population from small island states because of USP.
It is a pillar of strength, so keep it clean and bring back that USP it was known for.
Quote from the article:
“Why this matters
With democracy increasingly under threat in Indonesia(/Fiji), the role of an independent media has become even more crucial and pressing. Journalists are needed now more than ever to monitor a government that has adopted increasingly authoritarian practices, in addition to rising corruption and human rights violations.
And with the shrinking of civic space in Indonesia(/Fiji), the media is necessary as a platform to broadcast the voices of critics from civil society and academia.
Without them, the demise of Indonesian(/Fijian) democracy would be imminent. As Nelson Mandela once said,
A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy […] It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”
The USP is not the leading educational institution in the region. It is the leading brothel in the region from all the reports we have been receiving for the last few years.
Clearly you know a great deal more than the rest of us. There must be a lot more going on at the Laucala campus that we don’t know about. If what you say is true, I guess we can expect a conga line stretching down Laucala Bay Road in pursuit of “relief”. Oh to be in Suva again. Alas.
Oiaue! Why cant it be accepted that due to 400 plus vacant positions $14m of the salary budget was held in USP cash reserves and that it is this money that puts USP in a position to pay staff?
Why can’t it be acknowledged that in the period of the 400 vacancies, students continued to receive the levels of service due to them and in fairness staff are now being recompensed for services rendered; yes services rendered!This is worker justice!
If mainstream media does not report the success of union negotiations it means that there are more important national and regional issues at stake.
Of any of the regional instititions, USP has made the biggest contribution to the development of countries of the USP region. With 60,000 plus graduates this cannot be denied. Thank the staff!
Yes, when the staff know more about what is in the kitty than the management. Crikey, Elizabeth. Even you concede that this was effectively a secret settlement.
If the mainstream media didn’t report it, they are either in cahoots with the worker’s collective at USP or are so astonishingly useless that it takes an old bloke in Sydney to break the story.
“Thank the staff”? For what? You don’t generate the dollars that pays your salaries. You just sit there lapping up the cream. I know you have retired but are you one of the staff members who are insisting on getting the pay increase even after you have left?
If so, shame on you.
“Thank the staff”? For what? You don’t generate the dollars that pays your salaries”. To use the word Graham loves to use: “This is nonsense”. Staff teach courses. Without staff no teaching, when there is no teaching then there are no students. This is not difficult to understand.
The the University can remain sitting on monies that are earned in different ways, e.g. from taxes (which 1500 staff pay, and some tens of thousands of students contribute in VAT), from development partners, etc.
All these monies are not required when there are no academic activities. Without staff the University can close down, and Graham seems to not understand this.
Regional development vs USP Academics’ professional development and wealth enhancement:
60k usp graduates equating to USP being biggest contributor to regional development is debatable.
Quantity vs quality and whether the fee paying students found jobs commensurate with their fields of study.
What is more undeniable is that university academics and other staff have benefited from the generous guaranteed renumeration packages , funded privately or by regional countries’ taxpayers for selling to their student customers prospects of good employment with about as much guarantee as buying a lottery ticket.
USP for its staff is a guaranteed first class gravy train ticket. Assured of timely service and guaranteed arrival at its destination. A ticket which students are compelled to pay for with the allure of uncertain employment outcomes.
Vice Chancellor’s position is that ‘USP can’t afford to pay staff’. Sure. USP can only afford to pay the Vice-Chancellor – his exorbitant salary and his many other financial Claims, including frequent trips. He hops on the plane on every pretext, stays at Holiday Inn and Denarau, while the official VCP residence lays to waste and decay. USP as an institution is getting nothing from this charlatan,. It’s in decline since he took over. GrubSheet should check the per diem rates he has approved for himself. Higher than UN rates. His trips and spending to day. Yup, when it comes to Vice- Chancellor, a third world university like USP suddenly has very deep pockets. Only staff have to belt tighten, not the ice-Chancellor. For example the newly created position of Chief Operating officer held by Walter Fraser at exorbitant cost to USP. He is simply doing the Vice-Chancellor’s work while the Bice Chancellor waltzes around the region. Walter is also on many of the trips, most unnecessary. A reward for loyalty to the Vice Chancellor and acting as his henchman. Obscene wastage and duplication at USP. If any position should go it Walter Fraser. All this going on under Graham’s fat nose but he chooses to attack staff. Pal knows how to play the system and is now using job losses to try and silence and intimidate staff. He has also hoodwinked Graham, who thinks he knows what is happening at Laucala from Sydney but has totally missed the real abuse and corruption staring him in the eye. Well, Pal is quite crafty so we shouldn’t be surprised.
Seriously? Pal Ahluwalia is returning to Suva early next month to a house from which Grubsheet understands the furniture has been stripped. Yep, all the expensive Pacific Green furniture gone. Stolen or sold off cheap to someone’s kai vata, unless you can prove otherwise.
I would be the first to side with you if someone could demonstrate to me that there has been corruption. But the University Council doesn’t think so and neither do I. It is all piss and wind from people like you who want to impose your will on the process irrespective of the merits.
As I have said. When the USP Council removes him, come back to me. You have got your money, Mr Fat Cat. Now bugger off.
Could the expertise of the Fiscal Review Committee sort this issue out asap?
Pal Ahulawalia has succeeded in destroying the University that many in the region helped build to a respectable institution in its first 50 years of existence.
He was used by some to discredit the previous VC (may he RIP) and Pal successfully used many staff, some who are now his fiercest critics. It is hypocritical how he recently sacked the President of the Union for divulging confidential information when he successfully leaked information on the financial status of USP soon after he arrived. That was the genesis of the crisis that has led to the current divisiveness and tensions at USP!
The USP is hardly the institution that was the pride of the region, it is deeply divided and there is hardly any serious scholarly outputs, student numbers especially in science are all time low and the USP community is split almost in half between those who are pro Pal and the other half anti Pal. Many staff at USP are keeping a low profile, doing the minimal and enjoying the hefty perks USP staff currently enjoy. I agree with your assessment of the rise which is disproportionate compared to what the rest of the country gets. Moreover Pal, like his predecessor, has a core group of select individuals he is propping up with unprecedented positions and perks.
He is now in a no win situation, manipulated by those with personal agendas, including some current Ministers who are thickly embroiled in the crisis. The Council has not helped with similar maneuvering being played out at government level, at the behest of staff with connections and of course personal agendas.
USP needs a fresh start and the sooner the current Management is dispensed with the greater the chance of the institution regaining its lost credibility.
The base line, as with any institution, is that the board ( council ) either has confidence in the CEO ( Vice Chancellor) or it doesn’t. At the moment the USP Council is backing Pal Ahluwalia. And under those circumstances, he remains.
I am only interested in this issue as it pertains to the overall wellbeing of USP and its STUDENTS. It is not a sheltered workshop for the staff.
You say the University is split “almost in half between those who are pro-Pal and those who are anti-Pal”. Get back to me when the Council says he must go. In the meantime, get on with it. I think that is a perfectly legitimate position to take.
In the last few days some referred to the principle of whistle-blowing. Yes also USP has a Protected Disclosures & Whistleblowing Policy. It is, however, close to impossible to blow the whistle.
Through the policy an online platform (the University’s Whistleblowing Platform) was created. Through this platform wrong´doing should be reported. The link to this platform is only in the Policy procedure document (https://policylib.usp.ac.fj/form.readdoc.php?id=764) (and nowhere else on USP website). If one clicks at the hyperlink an error message is displayed:
Home / Error 404: Page not found
The page can’t be found.
It looks like nothing was found at this location.
One can also report wrong doing under the Whistleblowing Policy outside the platform. The procedure in such case says: “All disclosures submitted outside the University’s Whistleblowing Platform must use the Whistleblower Reporting Form for it to be considered as this form will curtail malicious and unfounded allegations being submitted for investigation”. (please don’t blame me for the language)
So far it was not possible for me to get such Whistleblower Reporting Form. It is nowhere at USP website, nobody at HR knows this form. It is also not under the selection of forms on the HR website.
If there was a requirement to inform USP Council of the annual whistle-blower activities I would be wondering if there was even a single case to report. This certainly would be interpreted that USP staff are more than happy.
I feel that it is close to impossible to use the whistle-blowing instrument.
In the issue around Dr Tamara it also would be not possible as the VCP plays a central role in the procedures of the policy. There is no procedure that could protect a whistle-blower when they have matters that require from being protected from the VCP.
It even says: “Notwithstanding the University’s commitment to preserve confidentiality of the identity of the whistleblower, the Vice – Chancellor and any Whistleblowing Investigation Officer may disclose information that might identify the whistleblower if they reasonably believe this is essential.
Isa, Miss Fong must be really after some of those yellow notes. How come the government has given at the 11th hour to release the funds? Please, Miss Fong, you tell us, in the context of transparency
While GrubSheet cannot find it in himself to criticize Pal, at least he’s not censoring material that will provide a multiplicity of views on his platform and provide a more wholesome picture, which is to be respected.
Pal has been nothing but trouble since day one. He has zero problem solving skills. He is actually a problem creator due to his vindictiveness. To cover up his incompetencies he manufactures controversies – by default. He has brought no major new initiatives to our regional university. He’s riding the coattails of Rajesh Chandra. He’s reaping the fruits of Rajesh’s legacy but the pickings are getting slimmer because he’s taking without giving. All he’s good for is stirring trouble, persecuting his critics, jetting around the region, fronting up at numerous meetings for photo opportunities but nothing positive or substantial to USP. Whatever USP is receiving is as an institution. It’s not because of his ideas or initiatives. The sooner he goes the better for USP and its staff.
The USP is a Pacific Regional Organisation and a member of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP). It is one of three regional organisations based in Fiji, the others being SPC, the Forum and the Customs body (OCO). It also sits alongside multilateral agencies of the UN, World Bank, IMF, etc.
All these bodies, except USP are either on tax free status including staff salaries, or are on CROP salaries and conditions that are above market rate.
USP is the poor cousin of this lot. USP staff would leave at the drop of a hat to join any of these other bodies, but they only occasionally do, because they are committed to their work and like life in Fiji. Only a handful at the very top including the Vice Chancellor receive inducement allowances that put them on par and in the case of the VC above the level of comparative professional staff in multilateral agencies Jin Suva.
The solution is for the USP terms and conditions to be brought in line with other CROP agencies and for the Fiji Govt to follow the example of other host countries for regional organisations and allow tax free status and other allied privileges to staff.
It will not be inflationary, the multiplier principle will see the injection of additional purchasing power actually boost the economy, creating jobs, etc, ensuring benefits to the economy outweighing any costs. Food is Fiji’s biggest import most of which is sourced from Australia and NZ, the biggest donor to USP and also the biggest beneficiary of any additional spending resulting from the change.
Now is the time to correct this historical anomaly. Give USP staff their due.
So now comes an argument that USP staff should not be taxed. Are you kidding?
It is not “their due” that USP staff should get tax free salaries. When the tax base is already shrinking, this idea is insane.
The only people at USP who shouldn’t pay tax are those who earn $30,000 a year or less, just like everyone else.
Sorry, Graham, I should have spelt in out in greater detail. CROP Agencies are not tax free, including the outlier, SPC which was until about a decade ago when local staff were required to pay tax after enjoying tax free salaries since that grand old lady of the Pacific was established eons ago. But even with taxed salaries Fiji staff receive above market rates, why? Because their salaries are pegged to the CROP harmonised scale which all CROP agencies except USP are part of, including Forum staff in Suva.
My argument was for USP to harmonise with other CROP agencies so that there is one uniform payment system across the region.
This would mean adjustments of salary scales to achieve uniformity, local staff would still pay tax, regional citizens would be tax free as provided in other CROP agencies and all would be paying VAT which is the single largest tax revenue category for govt that is actually growing.
I mean a precedent has been set already, USP Economics Dr Nilesh Gounder has been seconded to the Fiji Ministry of Finance to work on the National Development Plan on a higher international consultant’s salary scale, but he still pays tax.
It’s about bringing USP into line with other CROP agencies and in line with the international market to retain or attract key skills.
It would be a win/win solution.
Really sorry for students as the VC-Staff crossfire continues.
At least 2 things USP and the Coalition have in common: inside job pay rise and forever potholes.
USP Main Gate has been locked for weeks to allow for roadworks; earlier filling potholes with sand only for rain to wash away. Now vehicles drive around the Stadium to enter from QE Drive. Longer drive thus small increases to climate change through emissions. Isa, USP member countries – Marshalls, Tuvalu and Kiribati!
With the Coalition, roadworks at Veisari@Queens Highway were close to completion months ago, then as GD often says, now left hanging out to dry. No sign of workers etc. Just gravel and dust.
Signs of cash flow issues with both? Transparency? Priorities?