Photo: Okanagan College

Okanagan College Faculty Association calls out college over layoff plans.

Okanagan College's faculty union is raising alarm bells over the college's plans to possibly lay off staff outside of the agreed-upon obligations that are laid out in their collective bargaining agreement. But the college says this isn’t the case.

Okanagan College is one of many post-secondary schools across the country that's facing serious budget deficits following the federal government's decision to significantly reduce international student permits in the country, which make up a large source of revenue for colleges and universities.

Earlier this year, OC President Dr. Neil Fassina said the college was facing a deficit of $8.3 million over the coming fiscal year. As such, the college is reducing expenditures in many ways, including laying off some staff.

Following a meeting with Okanagan College management last week, Okanagan College Faculty Association president Sharon Mansiere told her union members that the college's proposed layoff strategy for some staff falls outside their collective bargaining agreement.

“So this plan change has been withheld from the union to this point,” Mansiere said in an April 16 email. “If they pursue their proposed strategy, it means that any one of us can be laid off at any time.”

The union's collective agreement includes three distinct scenarios in which the college can lay off its faculty, and Mansiere says each process includes checks, balances and transparency requirements. But she says the college wants to forego these agreed-upon processes and lay off eight faculty members directly, which she says puts the more than 300 members in her union at risk.

“Your job is under threat. Not just the continuing faculty who received pre-layoff notices. You. Your job,” Mansiere said in her email. “Those who know me know I am not a firebrand. I have not been a President who generally uses such possibly incendiary language. The fact that I am today is an indication of the seriousness of the situation we are in.”

'Still reeling'

Mansiere, who's worked at the college for nearly 30 years, added that while she's always wanted to maintain “the best relationship possible” with the college, that changed after last week's meeting.

“We can no longer proceed as we have before. This is a shocking moment in our relationship with the College,” she said. “The members of the executive who attended today’s meeting are still reeling.”

Mansiere told Castanet that to lay off staff under their collective agreement, the college must provide data to the union that justifies their cuts, under three different circumstances. These three distinct layoff methods were settled in their collective agreement more than 20 years ago, she said.

“If they say that they can just invent a new method, even when we have language in our collective agreement, you bet I'm worried, I'm very worried,” Mansiere said. “They're finding our collective agreement inconvenient.”

On Wednesday, Mansiere contacted the BC Labour Relations Board to request mediation assistance.

College denies OCFA allegations

But in a statement to Castanet, Jenn Goodwin, vice president of OC’s Enrolment and College Relations, said the OCFA’s allegations are “false.”

“With respect to the OCFA's specific concerns, the suggestion that Okanagan College has 'made a declaration' not to follow collective agreements is false,” Goodwin said in the statement. “Okanagan College is committed to following the processes laid out in legislation, our collective agreements, and institutional policies. We are making every attempt reasonable to mitigate layoffs.”

Goodwin adds that “no programs have been closed or cancelled at OC in response to changing enrolment.”

She says that the college notified 35 of its faculty in February that they were at risk of layoffs, but 15 potential layoffs were mitigated after others agreed to an early retirement.

”We hope to be able to continue pursuing similar strategies in collaboration with OCFA and BCGEU to further mitigate potential layoffs, including voluntary severance and workload reduction (work-sharing) options,” Goodwin said.

In an email to its faculty Thursday, OC associate vice president of People Services Gillian Henderson said they'll have a better understanding of anticipated Fall 2025 enrolment over the next few months.

Despite the early retirement mitigation, Henderson said there remains 20 positions that are still facing layoffs for the time being.

In a press release Thursday, the Okanagan College Faculty Association called on the college to halt the planned layoffs and share the financial and enrolment data that's being used to justify program changes.

"Okanagan College has served our communities well for decades, and its mandate and structure are being altered with minimal consultation and without sharing the data that supposedly justifies these changes,” Mansiere said in the release.

Despite the college's difficult financial situation and the rocky relationship between staff and management, Mansiere said faculty is still dedicated to their students and the community as a whole.