'Morale has hit an all-time low': Conestoga College union speaks out on layoffs

CBC

9 hours ago

As Conestoga College faces layoffs and program suspensions, the union leaders representing its employees say the toll on the workers is mounting.
"There is a sense of panicking now," said Vikki Poirier, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 238, representing Conestoga's support staff.
Across Ontario's 24 public colleges, approximately 10,000 faculty and staff have been laid off or are projected to lose their jobs, OPSEU said Wednesday. According to an arbitration document between OPSEU and the College Employer Council, 23 of the 24 colleges reported a 48 per cent decrease in first-semester enrolment of international students last year.
The document says the decline and financial troubles are a result of the federally implemented international study permit cap.
"We receive emails daily from our members with how upset they are," said Poirier. "Morale has hit an all-time low."
Poirier's counterpart, Leopold Koff, president of OPSEU Local 237 for faculty counsellors, librarians and partial-load instructors, said the crisis extends across the college, "physically and mentally and spiritually."
"They're tired. They were pushed to the max… and they're very worried as to what the future might hold," Koff told CBC News.
Layoffs in the hundreds
The cuts at Conestoga College have been widespread among both support and academic staff.
"We have approximately 190 affected," said Poirier, adding that there is also a small portion not represented in that number.
She said some jobs have shaved over 20 roles down to single digits, like student success advisers.
"They don't know how they're going to do their job in the fall," she said.
Poirier said some fields, including writing consultants, were cut altogether.
"That role is gone."
While no formal layoff notices have gone to full-time faculty yet, Koff said the damage is clearest among part-time instructors.
"From the winter semester which just occurred… we had 580 partial-load faculty, whereas the year before we had somewhere like 710. This spring-summer… it's now down to 240," Koff said.
"From 710 last fall to this summer 240. I don't know what you would call it other than a layoff."
College has 'misaligned financial priorities,' says union president
Both union presidents say communication from college leadership has been minimal.
"They're lacking direction… the communication is non-existent," said Poirier.
"There has been absolutely no comment, or town hall, or one ounce of compassion that has come from our leader."
Poirier and Koff criticized what they see as misaligned financial priorities, including a pay bump for Conestoga's president, John Tibbits.
"President Tibbits makes more than the prime minister of Canada. And we would like to know what we get for that," Poirier said.
Meanwhile, Poirier says staff and students are struggling with basic working and learning conditions.
"Our students are uncomfortable. Our staff is uncomfortable," she said. "Why are our students paying a fortune in tuition to come to an education facility where they are not comfortable to learn?"
CBC News reached out to Conestoga College for comment, but they declined.
Instead, in an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the college said: "Given the complexity of the issue and its implications across the sector, at this time, inquiries related to layoffs and program suspensions and closures are being directed to the College Employer Council."
In a report last week, the College Employer Council laid the blame at the feet of the federal government, saying the cap on international students led to a dramatic decline in enrolment and tuition revenue.