Around 75 food service workers receive layoff notices at UNB, union says

Wed, March 8, 2023 

Around 75 CUPE Local 2266 members received layoff notices effective at the end of May, according to CUPE representative Adrienne Paradis. (Sodexo My Way website - image credit)

Around 75 food service workers at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton have been issued layoff notices, according to the union, which wants the administration and a new employer to ensure jobs are protected.

Adrienne Paradis, a national CUPE representative based in the regional office for the Maritimes, said the union found out in November that UNB put out a request for proposals for the management and operation of food services on the Saint John and Fredericton campuses.

She said something didn't look right: the request for proposals didn't include anything that would ensure the next provider would employ the current food service workers and keep their union benefits.

"I assumed it was a mistake," said Paradis.

The workers are members of CUPE Local 2266.

Paradis said she understood from food service workers and former CUPE representives these requests had a requirement to protect the workers during contract negotiations. UNB did not respond when asked to confirm this by CBC News.

University of New Brunswick

The contract between Sodexo Canada, the current food provider at UNB Fredericton, and the university will end May 31. That's when the layoffs will go into effect, said Paradis, if the employees are not rehired by the new provider.

In response to a request for an interview, Sodexo said it does not comment on ongoing contracts with clients.

Paradis said staff have never received layoff notices in the past during contract changes, and when food service providers changed it was a "seamless transition." This is why, she said, some workers have been working with the university food services for 40 years or more.

Paradis said the employees still haven't been told if they will be taken on by the new company.

Negotiations underway with new company, UNB says

UNB did not agree to an interview with CBC News, but in an emailed statement, Heather Campbell, associate director of communications, said the university is currently negotiating with a company to take over food services.

"We recognize that transitions of any kind can cause feelings of uncertainty," said Campbell. "As we negotiate with the selected provider, we acknowledge that the employees of all external parties are the top priority for everyone."

University of New Brunswick

Simon Ouellette, a communications representative with CUPE, said the union sent an email to UNB president Paul Mazerolle requesting a meeting to discuss the situation on Dec. 6, before any layoff notices had been issued.

"We sent the request back in December to meet to say, like, 'Can we work this out? Can we can we make a deal? You know, can you fix this new contract ... Can you make sure that when Compass Chartwells hires people, that they prioritize and they rehire the folks that were there before?''' said Ouellette.

Chartwells, a division of Compass Group Canada, is a food service provider based in Ontario. CBC News asked UNB if Chartwells was the selected food provider for the university but did not receive a response.

Chartwells is the current provider at UNB Saint John.

Faculty and staff ask university to intervene

The situation also garnered attention from staff and students as word spread across campus.

Matthew Sears, a professor of ancient history at UNB Fredericton, wrote a letter to school administration that said how "deeply disturbed" he was by the university's treatment of the food service workers.

The letter calls on the university to "intervene in this process in the interest of our friends and colleagues who work in food service at UNB." It said food service workers have been kept in the dark about contract negotiations with nothing in place to protect their jobs, wages and working conditions.

Sears said more 150 faculty and staff have since put their support behind the letter.

He said the situation sets a bad precedent in a unionized work environment.

Submitted by Sofia Erickson

"We have an opportunity here, I think, to treat our colleagues better," said Sears. "And at the very least, part of the negotiation should be that the new food supplier has to continue on with the CUPE unionized contract and to keep the current workers on as part of its deal to get the contract."

Sears said the university contacted him after he sent the letter. He met with Kathy Wilson, vice-president academic at UNB, on Tuesday morning.

Wilson explained that because the food service workers are not employees of UNB, he said, there is nothing the university can do to ensure their employment through the contract change.

He said Wilson told him that the university is trying to finish contract negotiations as quickly as possible so the workers could possibly get issued new contracts from the selected provider.

Sears said talking with Wilson made it clear there are some inherent problems with outsourcing providers.

"The people who work for those private contractors can kind of be, you know, put to the side just for procedural reasons, and that doesn't sit well with me, nor does the fact that they certainly haven't been given any updates or communication at all from the university," he said.

'They're family to us'

Sofia Erickson, a third-year UNB student, also wanted to take action when they heard from a friend about the layoffs around a week ago. They immediately went online and started circulating a petition.

Days later that petition has almost 430 signatures. Erickson said that support speaks volumes about how upset the community is.

They hope the petition will show administration that the food service workers on campus are integral members of the community. Erickson said many students see the food service workers on campus every day and know at least one by name.

"These workers who have, you know, spent big portions of their lives at UNB with the students in our community — they're family to us," said Erickson.