University of Western Ontario Staff Association

Western's Administration has now given notice to the 28 UWOSA members whose positions have been eliminated as a result of the University's budget reductions. Combined with terminations of PMA staff and unfilled vacancies, well over 100 full time staff positions have been eliminated at the University.

UWOSA, and other groups, have argued that these layoffs were unnecessary for two reasons. First, Western has not been affected by the downturn in investment markets to the degree which most Ontario universities have been. Our defined contribution pension plan places all of the risk in the hands of employees, and none in the hands of the University. Most other Universities in Ontario have defined benefit pension plans, and those institutions face a much more significant financial shortfall to which Western is immune.

Second, the recently announced influx of unanticipated funds for the 2009-10 budget year was more than sufficient to offset the losses purported to require layoffs. Western will receive more than $10M in new (but one-time) money for the 2009-10 budget year; combined with cost savings recently announced, the University has more than $14M available to save jobs. All 28 UWOSA positions could have been saved with less than $2M of this money (including the cost of all benefits). The Administration, in UWOSA's view, should have used this money to prevent - or at least delay - job losses. Even if only a delay of the inevitable, this would have given the University community time to find other alternatives over the next year.

Why has the Administration proceeded with layoffs now, then?

In UWOSA's view, the answer is clear: What is actually happening is a restructuring and the only relationship this has to the UWO's investment losses is that those losses provide a plausible excuse. Investment losses, and the broader economic crisis, provide the UWO (and other employers) an excuse to engage in restructuring which would otherwise be subject to very harsh criticism. The economic climate works to insulate Western (and other employers) from this criticism.

It is true that individual Departments have, in some cases, been forced to eliminate positions as the result of budget cuts. However, these budget cuts are choices made by some Deans and Vice Presidents. They were not, as UWOSA has suggested elsewhere, necessary or inevitable. One Department Chair - Nathan Sussman in Economics - chose to resign rather than do the Administration's bidding. UWOSA congratulates Dr. Sussman for his decision.

Employers, including Western, can restructure. It is legal. However, under normal circumstances, Western's leaders would be subject to significant criticism and public pressure for this type of mass restructuring. Those leaders, however, have largely escaped significant criticism outside the University community. We must not allow them to get away with their choice; we must work to ensure the broader community is aware of the real reasons for these layoffs.