Teachers unfazed by Di Grappa’s warnings

Concordia’s announcement last week that the university’s deficit is skyrocketing is raising complaints and disbelief from its part-time faculty union.
According to interim president Michael DiGrappa, Concordia’s deficit has risen by almost 50 per cent – from $7 to $10 million – since the budget set down at the January Board of Governors meeting. As a result, he said, departments throughout the university and all elements of the administration are going to have to tighten their belts and reduce hiring in order to maintain fiscal stability.
Among the measures to be implemented to reduce costs will be a cap of $5,000 on all unapproved departmental expenditures and a freeze on casual hiring.
For members of the Concordia University Part-time Faculty Association, however, the administration’s concerns raise uncomfortable questions.
According to Richard Bisaillon, CUPFA’s VP Grievance and Collective Agreement, the announcement’s timing, which comes in the middle of tense contract negotiations, is somewhat curious. “I find it more than convenient that the university’s budget deficit went up by $3 million overnight,” he cautioned. “Although I’m not going to say for certain that this is a bargaining tactic.”
DiGrappa denied that the university’s announcement had anything to do with its negotiations with CUPFA, noting that the deficit has “nothing at all to do with CUPFA or the negotiations,” and that the negotiating team is entirely separate from the university administration.
DiGrappa noted that the university’s rising deficit has been driven by a number of factors including both reduced enrollment for the previous year, and changes to provincial funding formulas that punish universities with high proportions of undergraduate students. That said, he noted it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions about the school’s long-term financial future “on the basis of a single year’s results.”
According to DiGrappa, although Concordia’s financial position has deteriorated under pressure from government cutbacks and insufficient enrollment, it still maintains one of the lowest deficits of a university within the province.
DiGrappa would not say whether the new deficit will affect the university’s negotiations with its unions, but said that whatever strategic plan the university set down, it would likely require sacrifices by all parties.
“We’ve been through tough periods like this before,” he said. “I’m sure that we’ll make it through this one. We do have to realize, though, that we’ll have some tough choices going forward.”
According to Bisaillon, his union should not be held responsible for the university administration’s failings. “No way is CUPFA going to change its demands, or settle, because of financial mismanagement,” he said. “We are standing firm on this issue.”
CUPFA President Maria Peluso echoed his sentiments, arguing that the union should not have to reflect the new deficit in its demands. “We didn’t cause this deficit,” she said. “We’re an asset of this university, not a liability.”
Despite the ill will created by the contract negotiations, CUPFA’s is the last outstanding contract that the university has not settled. DiGrappa sees the eventual completion of these negotiations as the key to a new era of peaceful labour relations at Concordia.
Bisallion, for his part, remains skeptical of the administration’s desire for a just and lasting settlement.
“I’d like to believe [that they’re acting in good will] . . . but I’ve been at this university since it was formed, and (throughout that time), the university has always been fundamentally unwilling to participate in a good faith negotiation of a collective agreement.”