Sowing dissension in post-secondary realm may be UCP goal
By Lethbridge Herald on February 25, 2022.
Editor:
The recent 20 per cent cut to the U of L’s budget is not the first of that magnitude. In 1994, Ralph Klein imposed a 20 per cent cut to operating budgets of all government departments including Advanced Education which included all post-secondaries. In addition, he brought in a five per cent rollback in pay for all public sector staff, which also included all university employees. Pay cuts ensued for everyone, from profs to admin support and from the senior administration to cleaning staff. Punishing layoffs followed across all groups with the exception of tenured professors.
One major difference between 1994 and 2022 relates to process. In 1994, the government imposed its will directly and salary cuts were “part of the package.” Nobody could go on strike seeking higher pay from their employer and internal dissension regarding pay was avoided. It is possible that sewing dissension in the post-secondary community is one objective of the UCP. One last point: The President, Vice-President Academic, and Vice-President Research are all professors in their own disciplines with extensive experience in teaching and research.
Leslie Lavers
Lethbridge
6-5
Yes, now, with the UCP and their Public Sector Employers Act, labour relations within universities has certainly become political, in a very negative way. Yet, another reason, to vote for the AB NDP next year. There is much, that will need to be repaired and reversed, and none too soon.
MAY be a UCP goal? Without a doubt. Conservatives are opposed to public education in particular, too open and egalitarian; they prefer the context of indoctrination that informs religious schools. RELIGIOUS POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS WERE NOT AXED IN THE SAME WAY. Trade schools and career colleges are also okay but “higher learning” and critical thinking generally? No. The UCP are anti-intellectual which explains their anti-science bent that denies climate change. They have learned to PRETEND otherwise as Erin O’Toole just did, but now seem to be doubling down again on what they REALLY think.
We keep trying to overlook the fact that they and the CPC have a lot of evangelicals among them. So averse are we to mentioning their guiding reality of religious belief that we don’t even call it what it is, choosing instead to talk about “social conservatives.” Remember the “lake of fire” episode that sunk the WildRose party? Too much information apparently i.e. too openly religious. So Kenney, a serious Catholic himself, somehow managed to fold that party and its “extreme” bent into the UCP, but it’s raising its head again with Brian Jean returning to challenge him. So the fight returns about just how open CAN we be when it comes to this, shall we say, “alternate” version of reality? Conservatives know enough to know that modern society is not all comprised of believers by any means, and even if they are, many are still not prepared to have the country morph into a theocracy like Americans are doing; their constitution is on a par with the bible; probably due to their ingrained exceptionalism, they certainly seem to have a disproportionate number of true religious zealots, read crazy people. Many understand why we talk about the importance of separating church and state. Historical, ongoing, intractable war comes to mind.
We’re actually in a culture war now but have been unwilling to admit that, or that Christianity has become aggressively political. Kind of like the Ukrainians have been doing. The trucker convoy for example has been described as being backed by a Christian Libertarian movement in the States….so yeah, “sowing dissension in the post-secondary realm” is definitely what’s happening. It’s what they do best.
This strike is more about GREED than education (again driven by unions that taxpayers are getting sick of).
Employees are making HUGE money… $60 – 167,000 plus a year! When is enough enough? https://www.ulethbridge.ca/analysis/facts/employees
This strike is not just about money and if you put more research into it, you might gain a better awareness. I agree though: the U of L board and senior admin are quite greedy and money-focused.
Wages are bloated compared to rest of society that are just getting by. You better believe this is about money. https://www.ulethbridge.ca/governance/public-sector-body-compensation-disclosure
Like it or not, employers in this country reward excellence, education and experience. In my case, 14 years of school beyond high school and now 30 years with the U of L. If you compare my salary with those in the private sector with comparable qualifications, you will find that our salaries are not so huge, as you put it.