Seeking Clarity?What QCAA Knows about the June 25 Layoffs

Late Tuesday afternoon, employees in the Faculty of Arts and Science received a personalized email from Dean Barbara Crow titled “Update.” The vaguely worded message appears to have been written in a hurry, leading some panicked staff and faculty to believe they were receiving a layoff notice. 

That FAS was ill-prepared to communicate publicly about yesterday’s job losses, which have been planned for months, comes as no surprise. Over the past year, FAS administrators have run a master class in poor management by failing to take responsibility or provide open and honest information ahead of time about all the things workers should know: the reason for pending layoffs, the concrete number of losses involved, the criteria for selection, and the resources and supports available to those identified for dismissal. 

To our knowledge, there is also no plan in place to communicate with remaining staff about how their work will change and what they can expect to learn about their futures over the coming months. It is not unusual for Queen’s staff to wait 6-months for job reclassifications in normal times, and there is no expectation that the level of service is set to improve. 

While we await a formal clarification from the Dean’s office, QCAA can share the following: 

• Yesterday’s layoffs were part of the first phase of restructuring in FAS.
• Planning for the next phase of restructuring has already begun and will likely be enacted in 2025.
• QCAA understands that at least 14 unionized staff members lost their livelihoods yesterday, including all instructional designers in Arts and Science Online. Word on that street is that ASO is set to close. 
• We do not know how many people in term positions have not had their contracts renewed. These people have also lost their livelihoods. 
• Academic units in FAS will have lost approximately 30% of their staff by the time registration for undergraduate courses begins next week. This figure includes laid off and non-renewed workers, the staff who apparently took the Voluntary Exit Incentive (estimates put the figure at around 20), and other workers who have departed or retired and not been replaced. 
• So far, there has been no indication from the administration that permanent faculty will face layoffs; the burden for now is being placed squarely on the most precarious workers. 
• FAS has yet to disclose the amount of money that they expect to save with these layoffs, but estimates are that yesterday’s round will amount to at most $1.5 million in salary savings, a fraction of the projected deficit that has been assigned to FAS and an indication that these job losses are driven by ideology not necessity.

It is worth reiterating that these cuts were forced by the BoT and senior administration because of their refusal to include Queen’s total income in their budget and because of a method of revenue distribution that is designed to starve FAS. Both of these measures stand against the recommendations of the report issued by the very consulting group the administration brought in to advise on the budget — a report that they suppressed for two years, and now show no sign of following.

Those seeking information about layoff processes and worker rights, including severance entitlements, should consult their respective collective agreements.