Volume 28, No. 14 Editor: Mark Langer February, 1998 THE LAYOFFS ARE NOT ABOUT MONEY Why the layoffs are not about money Management has persistently refused to give us specific numbers, but every indication is that their hit list of people to be terminated consists of only a small fraction of the faculty Richard Van Loon originally said would be laid off . We have reason to believe that the final number will amount to less than 2% of the total academic staff. These numbers mean the real issue is not money. The issue is not one of a "financial crisis." The layoffs are about power. This fact was demonstrated very clearly during the recent negotiations concerning the implementation of Senate's redundancy resolutions. CUASA's bargaining team took the position that voluntary separations restricted to the faculties affected be considered in place of layoffs to the extent possible. Management was unwilling to consider such a provision in any form, no matter how limited. In an apparent attempt at public relations damage control, management appears to be clouding this issue by misrepresenting CUASA's position in a position in a statement to The Charlatan on 30 January1998. The difference in severance allowance between someone laid off and someone taking voluntary separation is minor. What is the financial difference between 8 layoffs on one hand, and 8 voluntary separations on the other? In budgetary terms, there is no significant difference. This is not a budgetary issue. You will not be more secure if there are layoffs! Remember that President Van Loon's reassurances that "this will be a one time exercise" vanished once he had obtained the necessary Senate vote. Management will be back for more. What the layoffs are about These layoffs are a first step, the thin end of the wedge. They are part of a larger strategy, both here at Carleton and elsewhere in North America, to fundamentally rearrange the university and to shift power from academic staff to management. Management's future "vision" includes the following: * dismantling of tenure * close coupling of academic programs to fluctuations in the job market for entry level positions * research sponsored and directed by business for the benefit of business * undergraduate teaching carried out by grad students, sessional and term appointments * use of technology to turn the output of instructors into a transferable product (Internet courses, etc.) * management and sale of the resulting product without further input or control by the instructors who created it * courses distributed on video or internet will replace on-site faculty. This transition threatens us all. The next few months are pivotal for the future. If we let management dismiss academic staff, we grant them the power to open the door to Doonesbury's future. The time to fight the layoffs is not when they decide to come for you. The time to stop the layoffs is now! In the General Membership Meeting, CUASA members spoke unambiguously and unanimously about their opposition to the layoffs. CUASA will keep its members informed of the strategies to be taken in the months ahead. We encourage members to continue to make their views known to their CUASA Council members.