180 support staff at Conestoga College could lose their jobs, union says

Joe Pavia · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 12:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

Approximately 180 enactment workers astatine Conestoga College person been fixed announcement that their jobs could beryllium chopped oregon reassigned due to cutbacks.

The workers, who are represented by Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 238, recovered retired during a gathering Tuesday afternoon. 

Vikkie Poirier, president of OPSEU Local 238, says the adjacent 90 days volition find what's successful store for workers.

"There's 3 categories [of workers affected]. We person probationary — they're laid off, and there's those who volition beryllium reassigned," said Poirier.

"Under reassigned, it's either into a presumption that is vacant oregon into a presumption that presently has idiosyncratic successful it," she said.

Under the corporate agreement, Poirier says radical who are laid disconnected volition enactment for 90 days and past volition beryllium enactment connected a imaginable callback list. People who are reassigned could beryllium moved betwixt present and the extremity of those 90 days.

She says radical astatine Tuesday's gathering were disappointed to larn the assemblage had decided to contented the layoff and reassignment notices.

"Really crappy. It was a crappy day. It was an affectional day," said Poirier.  "We were fixed a task that was crappy. It was hard enactment ... and we did the champion we could."

Some of the enactment unit see Student Success Advisors who assistance students with tutoring, intelligence wellness enactment and vocation advice. 

Colleges crossed the state person been laying off staff, with astir schools blaming the planetary pupil cap for declining enrolment which has negatively impacted their operating budgets.

Conestoga College, for instance, saw their intake of planetary students chopped by 50 per cent.

The worker's national astatine Conestoga had notified enactment staff last period that they could expect layoffs successful the adjacent future. 

Poirier says the union has held accusation sessions for employees astir imaginable layoffs. She says the enactment unit are the "foundation of the assemblage that keeps the assemblage going."

"The module cannot bash their occupation without the enactment staff. The deans, the chairs, the admin — they can't bash their occupation without the enactment of the enactment staff," Poirier said.

"The students bash not get to wherever they are without the enactment of the enactment staff. [We person enactment unit in] our facilities, we person our pupil advising, we person our admissions department, we person our planetary department. There are truthful galore areas that our members, 890 of us, cover."

CBC K-W reached retired to Conestoga College medication for a comment, but determination was nary contiguous response.