Dueling News Releases Greet Sask PolyTech Employer Recognition
A pair of news releases this past week seemingly competed for the narrative when Sask PolyTechnic was announced as one of the top employers in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan's Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers.
According to their web-site the Saskatchewan and Canada Top 100 Employers are selected based upon the the same criteria.
The criteria Employers are evaluated on are “(1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.”
For the fifth straight year Sask PolyTechnic was selected as one of the top employers in Saskatchewan for 2021.
In a Thursday news release announcing their selection Sask PolyTech expressed gratitude in being accepted for the award.
“Being selected as a Top Employer is a great honour and reflects the excellent work that goes into making Sask Polytech such a great institution,” Dr. Larry Rosia, president and CEO of SaskPolyTech said in a statement.
“I am proud to be part of this team that is passionate about making a difference in the lives of our learners and advancing the interests of our communities, province and country. The credit for this award goes to our faculty and staff. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to our students and stakeholders,” he said.
Despite being recognized as a great place to work according to the award’s editors on Friday the union representing unionized non-teaching support staff, Saskatchewan Government Employees Union (SGEU), at the educational institution questioned the validity of the award given the lay off of its members and the hiring of higher paid non-unionized management.
The SGEU Professional Services Bargaining Unit (PSBU) represent non-academic staff at Sask PolyTechnic.
“In a news release published yesterday, Saskatchewan Polytechnic president and CEO, Larry Rosia thanked his dedicated faculty and staff for helping the institution in being named one of Saskatchewan’s Top 100 Employers. This is the same institution that continues to fill additional and new management positions while permanently laying off support staff,” the SGEU said in a Friday afternoon news release.
“It’s a growing concern that money saved by laying off in-scope employees is simply being diverted to pay for more management,” PSBU Bargaining Unit chair Debbie Zawada-Wiebe said in an opposing statement. .
“The members of our bargaining unit have worked tirelessly to support the academic staff so we can help students reach their goals. We’re forced to take on heavier workloads to compensate for the layoffs and are met with criticism from management because work isn’t getting done. We can only do so much,” she said.
Attempts to get ahold of both sides before publication time for more clarification of their positions were unsuccessful on Friday.