Union slams province over community college food service job cuts

The union representing food service workers at Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) campuses is slamming the province for not standing up for its public sector workers.

The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) is calling on Premier Tim Houston to direct the NSCC to stop contracting out jobs.

“This is a blow to our members, many of whom have dedicated years of service to the NSCC and its students,” said Sandra Mullen, President of the NSGEU. “These are good, public-sector jobs that are being eliminated and replaced by positions with no pension, severely reduced benefits, and less favourable sick time and vacation provisions.”

The college recently contracted food services to Aramark, a private American company, which the union says cost 27 people their jobs.

The union says members have dedicated years of their lives to serving the college, and the decision to eliminate the public-sector jobs is bad for the province, the union said.

“The premier must understand that pushing people out of their jobs risks their livelihood and is just bad for the province,” Mullen said. “He needs to protect these public sector jobs, as there are families that rely on them to provide for their families.”

It went on to say there are also questions around the apparent lack of transparency surrounding the awarding of this contract, adding it’s perplexing how an American corporation can secure an NSCC-wide contract without a new, open, and transparent bidding process, open to all companies.