‘It feels very disrespectful’: AUPE VP says Alberta divesting from post-secondary education

Bobby-Joe Borodey, a vice-president with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, talks about 18 programs being reviewed and potentially cut at NAIT.

Bobby-Joe Borodey, AUPE VP, discusses post-secondary education funding and contract negotiations with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: Let’s touch first on that point about the NAIT situation. There 18 programs potentially on the chopping block. What do you take from the dialogue around the decision making process there?

Bobby-Joe Borodey: Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise when the government announces that there will be zero increases to base grant funding, institutions first look to cut programs and people.

So again, it’s unfortunate, but doesn’t come as a surprise.

MH: Enrollment being down, rising costs, even the impact of tariffs — How do you weigh that against the level of funding that’s coming from the province?

BJB: We have to recognize that the decrease in enrollment is primarily due to the limitations placed around institutions being able to accept international students.

Ten, 12 years ago, institutions were told to prepare for a decrease in the demographic in post-secondary education and to prepare to take on international students, and so many institutions pivoted to do that, only to now be limited in the number that they can enroll.

That’s why we’re seeing the results that we’re seeing here today.

MH: What’s the impact of that at the ground level?

BJB: If you are cutting programs, it would likely stand to reason then that there is less work, and so we will see a direct impact to job security with respect to the workers in those post-secondary institutions.

Essentially, we see a province that’s divesting in the post-secondary education system in this province.

MH: We’re talking about NAIT. AUPE members are employed at a number of post-secondary institutions across the province outside of NAIT. What are your observations? What’s happening at other schools?

BJB: It’s a similar pattern, or a common thread, for sure. All of our institutions we represent, 16 in the province, are engaged in collective bargaining right now, and while they are all different employees, they are experiencing pretty much the same.

They are being told that positions are likely to be cut, and in some institutions, we’ve already seen those cuts to positions. Programs will be decreased, and essentially with respect to bargaining, we’re seeing very low in wage increase proposals from each of those employers.

MH: How significant are the employee cuts?

BJB: They are very significant. Specifically, Red Deer Polytechnic just recently laid off 33 members within their institution, 17 of which were AUPE members, and so those are big cuts.

MH: Okay, so members are in the bargaining process where post-secondary is concerned. What does that bargaining look like? Where does it stand?

BJB: For the most part, it’s at a standstill. For those who have been engaged a little bit longer in the process, we are seeing positive results on non-monetary asks. However, immediately once we move to monetary decisions and bargaining, we’re either seeing a stall or incredibly low offers with no appetite to move off of those offers.

MH: What does that say to you?

BJB: It tells me that policy wise, they’re looking to save money on the backs of their workers. Initially, it feels very disrespectful, and it really just impedes the ability to negotiate fairly for fair collective wages.

MH: What does that say to you about the future of post-secondary education then in our province?

BJB: It may be an overstatement, but I do believe it is decimation to what used to be a very robust system. Students will leave the province, and we know that if they leave the province to pursue education elsewhere, the likelihood of them coming back to Alberta is slim.

Obviously, that has economic ripples in every facet of our economy.

MH: We have a growing population, it was just this week we learned that Alberta touched that 5 million mark. Would it not go the other direction?

BJB: Not likely, especially on the heels of these program cuts because if students are not able to access the programs that they want to pursue for their future careers, they have no choice but to go elsewhere. Or they’re faced with a situation whereby they have to travel great distances within their own province just to access those programs, and it’s very likely that they’ll be concerned about whether or not the program will be there for them to complete.

If it’s a diploma or a degree, for example, if it’s suspended in the middle of that programming, they’re typically left trying to trying to find an alternative solution to achieve their degree or their diploma.

MH: Your union drawing lots of attention in the past number of days after members directly employed by the province voted 90 per cent in favour of strike action.

You’ve been at the bargaining table with the government in that regard for more than a year. Why no mediated settlement? What’s holding that up?

BJB: The parties are just too far apart at this particular point in time. So again, we were able to come to consensus on non-monetary issues, but we went in with an ask that we felt was fair, they came in with a very low offer and there was very little wiggle room.

So at this particular time, the two groups were just too far apart to even really get value from a mediator.

MH: Yet, I understand you had 80 per cent turnout for that vote to reach that 90 per cent figure of voting for strike action. What does that say, then, about the willingness of AUPE members to actually walk off the job?

BJB: Well, it sends a very clear message, and it says that accepting nothing or little for so long is no longer an option, and that our members truly can’t afford not to go on strike if their employer is not prepared to offer them wages that will allow them to live, feed their families and not have to pick up second jobs just to make ends meet.

MH: How worrisome is it the government has secured a lockout license as a potential response?

BJB: Not too worrisome. We recognize that it is typically a tactic in a situation such as this. We’re hopeful that we can come to an agreement, especially after the mandate results.

The fact that we have the strong strike mandate behind us will hopefully be one of the levers we can pull to get negotiations going again. But as far as the lockout, we’re not overly concerned at this particular time.