THUNDER BAY — The Ontario Public Service Employees Union predicts there will be further program suspensions at Confederation College.
"My members are quite concerned about their own employment security because we really don't know what's going to happen next," said Rebecca Ward, president of OPSEU local 732. "Every few months what's being predicted at Confederation shifts and changes."
The college announced the indefinite suspension of 11 programs in March, and revealed in May that enrolment is being paused for three other programs.
It's a challenge, however, to sort out precisely how these measures are affecting staffing, because the parties are releasing different sets of data.
According to information provided Monday by Confederation, "As of today, no full-time faculty positions have been eliminated as part of the 11 program suspensions. One part-time support and two administrative positions have been eliminated through internal structuring."
The statement added that "In total, we have achieved a reduction of 41 positions through a combination of a hiring pause, the elimination of vacant roles, and a voluntary retirement incentive program."
It said those 41 positions include jobs currently held by individuals who are expected to retire this year.
But in an interview with Dougall Media, Ward released a starkly different set of numbers.
"In shuttering those 11 programs, we've lost approximately 100 part-time, sessional and partial loads to contract faculty in the system. We've lost 11 full-time faculty positions, and what's important to note is that our full-time numbers have not changed in at least 15 years...in spite of the expansion and the explosion of international student enrolment."
Ward said OPSEU is concerned that five more full-time positions are currently at risk.
She said OPSEU is working hard to protect jobs, and in the process has filed 10 grievances over the past 10 months.
"Although that's occurred, we're hopeful the managerial team at Confederation College will meet us in the middle. We see some movement toward us, and we hope that will continue."
In its recent Report to the Community, college president Michelle Salo outlined multiple pressures the college is facing, including declining enrolment.
For example, instead of an anticipated 770 new international students starting this year, the total now seems likely to be only half that number.
The threat to jobs at Confederation is not unique in the Ontario college system.
Last week, OPSEU reported 10,000 faculty and staff are impacted by program suspensions or cancellations across the province, and said this amounts to "one of the largest mass layoffs in Ontario's history."
With files from Emma Chilton/TBT News
