EDMONTON – IT may begin this fall – but for half a dozen employees of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology it ended Tuesday.

With only a few minutes notice, NAIT informed the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees on Tuesday that it was abolishing the jobs of six long-time, permanent employees.

"NAIT justifies this action as a mere business decision that will save a small amount of money at the same time as it’s appealing to staff members for donations, building a lavish new $50-million information technology facility and running an expensive ‘IT begins this fall’ advertising campaign," said AUPE President Dan MacLennan.

The decision to contract out the work of five painters and a welder is particularly troubling in light of the loss of more than 50 jobs, including trades and maintenance, at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary since February, he said. SAIT has used the same "business decision" justification.

"We see a pattern of Alberta trades-training institutions attacking the jobs of their own trades people," MacLennan said.

Rod Feland, Chair of AUPE Local 38 at NAIT, agreed: "NAIT is the largest trades training facility in the province. It’s outrageous that they’re whacking trades people."

MacLennan said the continuing layoffs at SAIT and NAIT, at the same time as both institutions are running major fund-raising campaigns, raises important questions for unionized working people about whether they should donate to institutions that are eliminating their own employees’ jobs.

"If this continues, AUPE will consider an appropriate, very public response to this situation," MacLennan said. "It may be that we have to launch a campaign of our own to advise working people of the need to direct their charitable donations to causes that treat their employees with respect."

AUPE Union Representative Steve Nimchuk suggested that NAIT should look for efficiencies in ways that don’t hurt individual employees. "Why don’t they offer a voluntary program? We know of employees at NAIT who would take them up on the offer. Then employees who want and need to keep their jobs could stay."

Said Feland: "If NAIT had such a big problem, they could have been talking to us months ago to deal with this issue. This came right out of the blue."

MacLennan predicted that students at the two institutions will see little benefit from the job losses.

"Contract workers cost money too. Our experience is that savings from these kinds of actions are usually illusory. The costs usually end up being as high or higher."


For more information, contact:

Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
Rod Feland, Chair, AUPE Local 38, 780-910-7320
Steve Nimchuk, Union representative, AUPE, 780-930-3341 or 780-919-4831 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

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