Most if not all members of CUPE 1615 and the broader University Community by now have heard of the recent announcement regarding the budget update. The Office of the President of Memorial University has communicated via the Gazette significant and upcoming budgetary and fiscal challenges and changes.
Budget update – A message from President Neil Bose [Memorial University Gazette]
The President of CUPE 1615 has written a letter to President Bose, respectfully and urgently requesting a meeting on these matters in order to express concerns as well as to engage in constructive conversation about how things will proceed going forward and to help contribute to problem solving the situation in which the University finds itself.
There are plans upcoming for members of CUPE 1615 to discuss these changes.
CUPE 1615, alongside other labour unions and student unions, has already publicly been participating in the fundmun.ca campaign directed at the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador with the audience being the general public and the university community with a goal to invoke change to address the budget and fiscal constraints that face the University and thus the community as a whole.
While the University’s administration has made a commitment to transparency and collaboration throughout the upcoming process as well as the seeking of ideas and input is welcomed, a preliminary concern is that these first steps were not conducted in that way.
Preliminary questions that pertain to the members of CUPE 1615 are as follows.
- A reference was made to staff positions such as instructional assistants, lab demonstrators, and lab assistants being exempt from the limited hiring program; does this exemption cover all non-academic and CUPE 1615 staff, and if not, could a more comprehensive list of classifications be provided?
- Has it yet been determined the means of collaboration that will be used throughout this process, and if so could more information be shared on that front?
- There were stated outcomes, one definitive, of Memorial being a more focused institution as well as others, as being likely, of becoming a smaller, well-funded, culturally rich institution; could more information be provided on particular impacts on non-academic staff?
- Does this limited hiring process affect replacing positions where personnel have left due to retirement, etc, or just the creation of new positions?
Members will be updated once more information is obtained or a response to the meeting request is received.
It is acknowledged that members of CUPE 1615 are already experiencing stress and anxiety, and will be conferring in the coming days this week.
More information will be provided to members regarding meetings, discussions and next steps.