Job losses at SAIT a sign of more pain to come
CALGARY – Today, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) has axed 30 positions held by Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) members, with another two positions reduced with the possibility of abolishment.
With massive cuts to post-secondary education happening across the province, AUPE warns the job losses, and their effect on the economy, could snowball in the coming weeks and months.
“The UCP government’s reckless cuts are mounting and putting even more Albertans out of work in the middle of a pandemic, one of the most difficult social and economic challenges we’ve ever faced,” says AUPE Vice-President Bobby-Joe Borodey.
“The government is using COVID-19 as a cover to justify their heartless cuts, which they were going to make anyway. It’s cynical, it’s opportunistic, and it’s shameful,” she says.
The positions being abolished include Accounting Clerks, Administrative Assistants, Information Officers, New Media Specialists, Lab Technologists, and more, which all contribute greatly to SAIT’s success and the overall student experience.
“Many of the jobs abolished today are from the schools of energy, construction, manufacturing and automation,” says Borodey. “The UCP government likes to talk about creating jobs, but its reckless cuts are kneecapping Albertans’ ability to get jobs in these important sectors.”
Borodey stressed that while some post-secondary job losses are happening by way of layoffs, these 32 positions at SAIT are being abolished entirely.
“With layoffs, there’s a pretense that workers could be called back to work,” she says. “But with position abolishments those jobs are permanently lost. That means the services these AUPE members provided at SAIT will be shuffled to the remaining staff who are already overworked, and that’s if those services continue at all.
“Now would be the time for the UCP government to have Albertans’ backs and help make enduring this pandemic as painless as possible.
“Unfortunately, again and again the government has shown its focus is on putting Albertans out of work. We will likely see more job losses at SAIT and other post-secondary institutions in the future.”
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Vice-President Borodey is available for interviews.
For more information, contact: Alexander Delorme, Communications, 780-264-9274