The head of the union representing some employees at the University of Windsor calls job cuts announced at the school 'significant.'
President of CUPE 1393, Kristen Siapas, told AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show that it looks like they will lose around 20 per cent of their membership as a result of the cuts.
Siapas says the university has said that part of the strategy is centralizing.
"There will be job losses; there might be some jobs that are created, so we are riding that wave, so to speak, trying to figure out where people are going, how many new jobs there are, how many jobs are disappearing, and what that transition looks like," she says.
The school's website states that the changes will impact 56 CUPE 1393 positions, eight of which are vacant. 29 new CUPE 1393 roles are being created, for a net reduction of 27 CUPE 1393 positions.
CUPE Local 1393 represents around 330 professionals, technicians, and tradespeople, who include recruiters, student counselling, technicians in the science program, carpenters, plumbers, and electricians.
Unifor 2458 represents 300 full-time and 50 part-time office and clerical staff group, along with 20 engineers at the Energy Conversaion Centre.
The job cuts will impact 75 full-time members and 12 part-time employees, although the union is still waiting to see what the final figure will be after voluntary early retirement and voluntary severance packages are presented.
The university blames the cuts on a projected revenue-expenditure gap of at least $30 million in the operating budget for fiscal 2025-2026.
To meet that shortfall, the university plans to centralize some services, including IT/AV technical support, communications, advancement, and, in the future, events.
Faculties and non-faculty units will also be streamlining administrative services or adjusting administrative staffing levels to reflect the service centralization, enrolment changes, and enhanced use of technology.
Redundant or vacant positions in areas identified for efficiency improvements are also being eliminated.
Siapas says she knows the goal is to mitigate a $30 million shortfall in the budget for next year.
"I know as I'm looking at the process and the rights that our members have and the way this is being reshaped, I'm, personally, not seeing the savings," she says. "So do all this rigmarole to try and reshape everything; I hope that we see some efficiency with it, but I'm just not seeing the numbers actually saving us any money."
To minimize the number of unionized positions affected, the university also plans to offer voluntary early retirement and voluntary severance packages to eligible unionized employees.
On the academic side, deans are identifying resource optimization opportunities for teaching and learning, including minimum course enrollments and reductions in sessional appointments and course releases.