Anxiety runs high amongst staff in the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) as they grapple with job uncertainty.
United Steelworkers (USW) Locals 2010, the Union representing staff at Queen’s, and the University met to discuss workload changes and potential layoffs for staff in the FAS. Interim Associate Vice-Principal (Human Resources) Lisa Walsh, Queen’s Legal Counsel Melissa Seal, and FAS Human Resources Director David Mignault participated in discussions on behalf of the University.
USW President Kelly Orser advocated for Queen’s staff during the conversations. The meetings came after the applicants accepted into the Voluntary Exit Initiative (VEI) vacated their roles on May 31. The program allowed FAS staff to exit their roles for a lump sum payment, impacting staffing levels across the University.
“Right now, for steelworkers, there’s a lot of anxiety, stress, and concern,” Orser said in an interview with The Journal. “We’re getting high levels of inquiries from steelworkers who are asking questions.”
Many questions from USW were concerns about the possibility of casual workers–employees hired on a need-be basis who cannot work for more than 90 days and are paid a fraction of the price compared to permanent workers—replacing their jobs at the University, Orser said. It’s happened before, she added.
In January, four union were laid off as the University navigates its financial woes, Global News reported.
The University made it clear to USW during conversations that if a position is no longer needed by the employer, the workload will no longer exist and therefore won’t be replaced by a casual worker, Orser said.
Information shared in meetings between the University and USW remain confidential. However, to quell staff’s concerns, Orser hosted multiple town hall meetings where steelworkers asked questions about managing increased workload, entitlements, and how layoffs work. Orser’s warned staffing issues, such as concerns about their workload will extend beyond the initial January layoffs.
“When the layoffs happen, that’s not going to be the end of it. It’s almost always the beginning,” Orser said.
Despite uncertainty surrounding their future employment, Orser encourages staff to remain strong.
“Steelworkers will weather this storm, but we know it won’t be easy,” Orser said.
In a statement to The Journal, the University said they’re not publicly discussing specific labour relations and employment issues out of respect for their employees and USW.
“We very much respect our relationship with our employees and, where applicable, their bargaining agents,” the University said.
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