LU Students for Staff (LUSS)

Friday 28th October Laurentian is honoring its long service employees. Judging by the redundancies and other personnel goings on contrived by Laurentian there will no longer be any long service employees one day....soon??? Also, they are honouring their retirees. It may turn out that the issue of retirees may someday be solved by having no long term employees.......1984 here we come....

It appears that a rumour is going the rounds to the effact that appeals will be made to the Ontario Municipal Board should Laurentian go ahead and apply for building permits etc. All this money that Laurentian could have devoted to focussing on current programmes, kept the redundant employees working and maybe, only maybe, with a goodly measure of good will may have eventually acheived their objectives. It shows how damaging arrogance and "my way or the highway" attitudes can really be.

The following was taken from the Sudbury Star opions column - thanks Sudbury Star,,,,,,,

"One must wonder why revitalize is the mantra for LU and the vocal MINORITY wanting to build a School of Architecture in the Farmers Market location. There are how many people working downtown - 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 or more???? These are people employed in the various government offices, City Hall, various corporate offices, legal offices, at least two school board offices, medical offices, pharmacies, Chamber of Commerce, the court house, jail, post office and many more along with the poor surfs employed in the exisitng downtown shops. Add to this those who are compelled to go downtown for medical or legal reasons. Of course anyone visiting downtown Sudbury runs the risk of getting a parking ticket, getting "booted", being propositioned by prostitutes, drug dealers and pan-handlers. If all the employees working downtown were to support downtown businesses the downtown would be "vitalized". Downtown business had the opportunity to entice such workers to stay downtown and shop but they didn't. Various government offices were located where they are to encourage and vitalize the city core. So far it has failed..... You take it from here...."

Something everyone to think about.

Think of the following:

Laurentian has managed to garner: $10 million from the City.
$40 million from the Province.
They are giving: $ 3 million to the City for Market Square
They are giving: $14 million to Barrie for a satellite Campus
They are raising: $50 million from the "Next 50" LU fund raising campaign

Total $117 MILLION that they will be disposing of PLUS the $120 million annual LU budget.

GRAND TOTAL = $237 MILLION.!!!!!!!!

Ooops - nearly forgot the estimated $2 million and change that Laurentian is having to cough up for costs dealing with the redundancies.

With all that cash (taxpayers and corporate and private donations) it must keep the accountants awake at night.

Maybe it is time to occupy City of Greater Sudbury City Hall, (Rick Bartolucci's office is next door), and Laurentian Univeristy's 11th Floor - Parker Building. Tuition fees are going up, cost of living (subsisting as a student) going up, cost of housing going up. Who's in control??? Dominic Giroux and the Laurentian spinners are in Ottawa try to hustle up students - if they only knew what awaits them at Laurentian. Of course local students are getting the message unless they cannot afford to go elsewhere.

Senior City of Greater Sudbury managers and staff screw up and lose close to a MILLION DOLLARS (and who knows what else they screwed up??) and they say "Sorry" expecting to get off the hook. Laurentian employees helped build the University with dedication, hard work and loyalty over many years and they are "rewarded: with dismissal - with 15 minutes notice. No retirement party, no leaving party with their colleagues and friends, no dignity, no pension. People should be good and mad about how our institutions are managed. The poor, unemployed and elderly go hungry. The homeless go withOUT shelter - there is something definately wrong somewhere.
Please excuse typo......in first message

Senior City of Greater Sudbury managers and staff screw up and lose close to a MILLION DOLLARS (and who knows what else they screwed up??) and they say "Sorry" expecting to get off the hook. Laurentian employees helped build the University with dedication, hard work and loyalty over many years and they are "rewarded: with dismissal - with 15 minutes notice. No retirement party, no leaving party with their colleagues and friends, no dignity, no pension. People should be good and mad about how our institutions are managed. The poor, unemployed and elderly go hungry. The homeless go with shelter - there is something definately wrong somewhere.

Something to think about and consider as students labor under the burden of escallating tuition fees, housing costs and food bills. How much is the cost to Laurentian in sorting out the grievences and legal fees for the 14 LUSU members who were unceremoniously made redundant along with the admin staff also let go at around the same time. A couple of years ago an engineering students won a $325,000 settlement for a Laurentian blunder. What was Laurentians legal costs? Some years ago the founding director of the School of Engineering was fired!!! That cost Laurentian an unholy packet when he was reinstated. So the cost of current blunders can cost how much??? $1 million, $2 million or more??? and this on top of the $3 million that Laurentian is coughing up to build a School of Architecture down town PLUS the $40 odd million that the Province is paying, PLUS the $14 million that it going to spend in Barrie. Lucky that Laurentian attracts rich students with wealthy parents. So long as students keep paying Laurentian keeps dishing. Don't occupy Wall Street - occupy the Tower!!!!!

Patrick,
The simple math is that around 24 people have lost just about everything. They were for the most part specialized professional or para-professional people. The School of Architecture will do zero for their employment prospects in Sudbury. Sure, the School will have to hire some high priced academics and administrators, but not from Sudbury though, but for the most part the jobs will be Mac job's and term only, in other words no pension, no benefits, low income and after your term you can be out on your ear. The best that may happen down town are some wiatress, and minimum wage or commission only shop jobs. Sudbury is in great need of proper home care for seniors to relieve the burden off the medical system. We need to take care of the "working poor" with affordable housing. There is a whole economy in the waiting to develop value added ideas to our forestry and agricultural industries. We should be training product engineers and scientists. Ontario used to have a stainless steel industry, how come our wonderful governments allow OUR nickel to leave town and made into stainless steel in a foriegn country?? The people of Sudbury and the students of Laurentian will be left with the burden of dealing with Dominic's white elephant or his Taj Mahal.

Patrick,
It was broadcast on MCTV News at 6 pm this evening. Also maybe check the Sudbury Star and Northern Life web sites. The well being of around 24 people people sacrificed to pay for Market Square - you do the math. We can sleep at night but one must wonder how the management of Laurentian can.

The latest news is that Laurentian is coughing up $2 million to "bribe" the City fathers (and mother) into submission regards Dominic's folly - the School, of Architecture. In the summer Laurentian dumped summarily 14 LUSU employees and a number of others amounting to around a total of 24 or so who were made artificially redundant. These people lost their income, their dignity, their future income, their ultimate pensionable income and possibly more including all the pyscholigical stress inflicted on them. One is in serious danger of losing their home that hard work, dedication and loyalty helped purchase. Laurentian students, employees and the citizens of Sudbury should be incensed. Wendy did eventually and after personal termoil achieve some satisfaction. Don't just sit and say "Ho Hum" time for serious action.

Nathan,

Wish we could, then we could bet a whole lot of money on the outcome. Some listen to a bookie - some win some lose.