20 people get layoff notices due to budget cuts

An email to Saskatoon Public Library (SPL) employees just before the end of the business day on Tuesday announced multiple staff positions will be cut in response to budget shortfalls.

The email from libraries director Carol Cooley, obtained by the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, said that layoff notices had been given for “14 full-time equivalent positions.”

In an interview, Cooley specified 20 people will get layoff notices. She was unwilling to reveal what positions are set to be cut, saying not all of the affected employees had been notified on Tuesday, however, she said “a combination of professional and non-professional staff ” will be affected.

“This staffing cut was one where we identified inefficiency in March of 2017, when we thought we were losing our provincial funding, that would help reduce our costs but not impact service to the public,” she said. “If we’re going to have a balanced budget we need to have the majority of these savings in place.”

When the provincial government announced its budget in March, the SPL was facing a $800,000 shortfall due to the elimination of its operating grant. When the government decided to restore the $4.8 million in cuts to the provincial library system, the operating grant was also restored. However, Cooley said this provincial funding is only guaranteed until March 2018.

Because 97 per cent of the SPL’s funding comes from the city, the restoration of library funds did not ease financial struggles for Saskatoon’s libraries as much as it did for rural libraries that get 40 per cent of their funding from the province, Cooley said.

“This decision was not made lightly. It’s been very hard for us to arrive at this and we know that it’s difficult for all our staff — whether they are remaining with us or not.”

No one from Canadian Union of Public Employees local 2669, which represents Saskatoon library staff, could be reached for comment late Tuesday.