Are VCC job loss numbers misleading?
Stephen Barrington, writing on behalf of Vancouver Community College management, attempted to slam the Straight because it “does not see fit to check facts” [Letters, November 6-13]. Fact is, the Straight’s facts are more factual. What it was reporting on was job loss. What he’s on about is the much narrower technical term layoff. Management likes that term because it makes the numbers smaller— because in colleges, those who are “laid off” with notice and severance rights, etcetera, are always a smaller number than those who lose jobs. Here are the facts behind the facts. Mr. Barrington says 32 people took buyouts. They weren’t replaced. That’s 32 full-time job losses. He says 18 budgeted term-instructor positions weren’t renewed and 15 others were laid off. That’s 65 job losses. He doesn’t include many part-time term positions that would have been in the system starting from September and from January—work that real people were counting on. That number could easily be in the 40s. So o
