NSCC to contract out food services, laying off 27 employees

Twenty-seven food service workers at the Nova Scotia Community College are losing their jobs as the college outsources the work to a private company.

NSCC has hired Aramark Canada to run food services operations at its campuses. Previously, those operations were run by employees of the college and other companies.

The college says the profits brought in by some campus locations were not offset by ongoing losses at others, and the arrangement amounted to losses of about $800,000 each year.

"It's always challenging to make any change that you know is going to affect colleagues," said Lynn Hartwell, the NSCC's vice-president of campuses and communities. "But in this case, we've been sustaining quite significant losses across some of our food service operations across the college and it's just not financially sustainable to continue to go on."

Interviews offered with new company

The affected employees were told on Thursday that their jobs were being eliminated effective Aug. 22.

They are being offered interviews for jobs with Aramark, and will also receive severance pay and 40 days' pay in lieu of notice, as stipulated in their collective agreement.

Rhea Gouthro is the sous-chef at the waterfront campus of the NSCC in Sydney, N.S., and is one of the employees who was told she is losing her job. 

She is also the vice-president of the NSGEU local that represents NSCC food service workers.

She says workers were blindsided by the news, and were only given until Monday to inform the NSCC if they wanted to accept the interview with Aramark.

"It's still a shock for us. It's a mix of frustration, betrayal and deep concern for our livelihood," Gouthro said.

"We understand the difficult decisions need to be made sometimes, but they should be made fairly, transparently and with respect for the people who helped build this college community. All we ask is to be treated with dignity we've earned and for our voices to be heard in decisions that affect our lives."

Gouthro said the new positions will have lower wages than the jobs with NSCC. Wages for front-line positions with Aramark range from $16 to $23 per hour and come with health insurance coverage, according to Aramark's letter to NSCC employees.

Union response

In a news release, the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union said some employees were only a few years from retirement and others rely heavily on their health benefits.

"This is a blow to our members, many who have dedicated years of service to the NSCC and its students," said union president Sandra Mullen in a news release on Tuesday.

"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."

Gouthro said while she has worked at the NSCC for eight years, all of her colleagues at the waterfront campus had worked there for 15 years or more, and one had been there for 27 years.

The NSGEU called on Premier Tim Houston to tell the NSCC to stop contracting out jobs.

"These are not just numbers on a balance sheet; these are Nova Scotians, our neighbours, who are facing immense uncertainty," Mullen said in the news release.

"In the end, the move represents a prioritization of financial figures over the well-being of dedicated employees.… The premier needs to offer people more than words. They need his help, and Nova Scotia needs a government that puts people first."

The college is not alone in contracting out food services. Some of the other university campuses in Nova Scotia use the services of Aramark, including Dalhousie University and Saint Mary's University.

Hartwell said the NSCC looked at how post-secondary schools across the country handled food service, and found that few were offering it internally.

Hartwell told CBC News she thanks the employees for their service, and said the decision to make the change was not made lightly.

"My sincere hope is that we'll see many of them when we open up again the cafeterias in the fall," she said.