A strike at the University of the South Pacific (USP) continues in Suva today with no word from the university Council on whether the striking staff and students have been heard.
Some USP staff went on strike last Friday, October 18th, after months of tension at the university surrounding allegations of poor governance against Vice Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia and uproar caused by his termination of former staff union (AUSPS) president Dr Tamara Osborne Naikatini.
USP students have received emails from both the Student Association president and the university’s management assuring them that their education remains of utmost priority and claiming that the strike is a hindrance to students.
In a statement last week, the USP said the strike “is over an issue that the University management considers to be outside their respective collective contracts and conditions of employment.”
The USP Student’s Association statement said it “is deeply concerned by the misinformation which has caused some of our members wanting to join this strike based on incorrect and exaggerated claims, which has potentially altered perceptions of the issue at hand. The USPSA wishes to clarify that while some members may individually support the ongoing strike, the student body as a whole remains distinct and separate from the organising entities of the strike.”
However, alongside the staff members currently standing in protest before the VC’s office at the Laucala Campus are several groups of students, who say they’re angered at the actions of those in power.
On Friday, during a break from chanting, “Pal must go,” and “We want Dr Tamara,” among other demands, the first volunteer speaker handed the megaphone was a representative of the students.
“If the Vice-Chancellor had any integrity, if USPSA (USP Student Association) Federal Council was even 1% effective, then we students would not have been standing here in the hot sun and fighting for justice,” the student representative said.
“When you want USP’s ranking to rise, we students go hard at that. We are the young legs and hands on the ground doing the research work for publication. It is us students. And just because you have a pull on USPSA doesn’t mean we won’t raise our voices,” she said.
“No amount of professorship title makes a difference here if you’re ethically wrong, if your values and morals contradict with the knowledge of the Pacific Island system. This is not how we operate. We collaborate, and we communicate, and this is what we’re doing. We are communicating. We’re raising our voices. This is our university, our choice, our voice,” the student declared to cheers from the striking group.
While the group easily numbered over a hundred people, some present at the strike believe many more potential protestors were silenced by a decision to withhold pay from all staff members not in office during the strike.
An email from the university’s Human Resources Office the night before the strike commenced, informed all staff members that “staff who are on strike will not be paid for the period they are on strike.”
“Staff who are members of either of the two unions who do not report to work or keep their normal office hours and who are not on prior-approved leave, will be assumed to be on strike,” the email said.
Those present for the strike say this did not deter them. “That is what we will go through. We have to give up something to get something. And this is what we are doing today,” one staff member said.
Acting president of AUSPS Krishnil Ram encouraged those present: “I know most of us had a lot of fear, given the emails that went around trying to threaten us, trying to deter us from using our fundamental right,” he said.
“It is your legal right to strike if you feel something is wrong. And as the saying goes, if you don’t use those rights, you lose them. And to those people who out of fear could not join us, we have nothing against you. But this is an important turning point for the university. Years down the line, people will ask you, when the staff stood up against poor governance, what were you doing? And I hope you can answer without any regret.
“As for those saying that we have neglected our students, this is for our students. If we don’t have good governance, what can our students expect? We cannot offer quality education with poor governance. And it is a necessary step that we have to take,” he continued.
“The strike was the last option. We have tried other avenues. This is the last option. The students are also here. The students are also frustrated. And this is an important step for us all.”
The strike continues as of today and the staff and students stationed before the Vice Chancellor’s office continue to await resolution.