Albertans need hope but get only broken promises from Jason Kenney
CALGARY – A Calgary college has axed more jobs in the latest cuts to hit post-secondary education in Alberta.
Bow Valley College told 15 members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) that their positions are being permanently cut. They had been temporarily laid off in May as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but their jobs will not be coming back.
“Albertans are starting to ask how much more bad news on jobs they can take,” says Bobby-Joe Borodey, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents more than 90,000 workers, including about 10,000 in education.
“Alberta has lost tens of thousands of jobs already, thanks to the drop in oil prices and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Borodey.
“Just when hurting Albertans are begging their government for help, Jason Kenney decides to lay off 11,000 health care-workers and slash nearly 1,000 public-service jobs. Meanwhile, hundreds of post-secondary jobs have been cut this year,” she says. “Colleges and universities could play a huge role in helping these workers get back to work, but the government is pulling the rug from under their feet.”
The new cuts at Bow Valley College included sign-language interpreters, library assistants, facilities workers and administrative positions.
“Albertans need hope from their government,” says Borodey. “Instead, they see a job-cremation program, broken promises and nearly $5 billion of our money wasted on tax-giveaways to his big corporate friends that have failed to create jobs.”
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Bobby-Joe Borodey is available for comment.
For more information, contact Terry Inigo-Jones, communications officer, 403-831-4394.