Fiji Times Online

Fiji Time: 7:44 PM on Thursday 9 September

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USP redundancy on hold

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

STAFF at the University of the South Pacific' dining hall will not be laid off until further notice.

Dining hall staff were to have received their package last Friday but it was put on hold because the matter is now before Employment Tribunal.

Lawyer Nicholas Barnes who represented USP at Friday's meeting said both parties agreed to meet this week. He said the redundancy plan was also put on hold.

A union official said after the meeting USP had agreed not to send any union members home. "We are grateful that USP has finally recognised the union," the official said.

He said the union was looking forward to further discussions with USP.

University management had decided to outsource its dining hall services next year which it said had been running at a loss for the last five years.

USP registrar Lily Vesikula said USP was in the process of completing its outsourcing of food delivery across all areas of its Laucala Campus.

Ms Vesikula had earlier said staff members would not leave empty handed.

The Permanent Hourly Paid and Intermediate and Junior Staff Union was however not happy with the redundancy packages being offered.

The union also claimed that the current system of food allowances for boarders had resulted in poor nutritional intake.

The current system involves students receiving their meal allowance. In the old system the meal allowance was directly given to the dining hall and they had to eat from there.

Ms Vesikula said the decision to outsource dining hall was made after the USP student association expressed desire to be free to have a choice and not be tied to existing eating arrangements.

"The Laucala Campus Students Association made a request to the University Council in June, and again in October this year, for the addition of cooking facilities in the halls of residence," she said.

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