Langara College has enacted mass layoffs in an attempt to break the bargaining power of the faculty union. Staff and students are being squeezed as the mismanaged administration of the public college faces a loss of revenue.
Nearly a quarter of the Vancouver-based public college's teaching staff, more than 200 members, have been laid off or had work reduced. The Langara Faculty Association (LFA) has been kept in the dark during contract negotiations, not to mention the ongoing college restructuring, whose plan was entirely generated by AI.
On condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, an instructor of 10 years at Langara who spoke to The North Star was confident that the admin's recent moves are “100% union busting in action.” Because, while sessional instructors are unionized, their contract terms mean they have no real power or leverage in struggles against the administration.
Contract Negotiations
During contract negotiations, there has been no communication from the administration. “The college is really playing hardball. They're not providing information to the union.” The college refused to say how many instructors have been laid off. The LFA had to piece together an estimate by calculating lost union dues.
The instructor we spoke to believes that the administration is attempting to minimize the number of faculty overall and those with a “continuing contract,” which guarantees full-time instructors a certain amount of work and pay.
“They're trying to get rid of those people. And they're basically trying to make everybody into a sessional instructor. So it's like the ultimate neoliberal subject, we're going to be so 'flexible'.”
According to the interviewee, the administration is downloading risk onto faculty by denying guaranteed pay and work if there is low enrolment or classes gets cut. In addition, they are also trying to get out of paying severance.
“They have their interpretation of when severance is supposed to be paid, but their 'interpretation' means that it could literally never be paid.”
Mismanagement and Bloated Administration
The public college spent $1.3M on executive salaries in the 2023–2024 school year. Paula Burns, the President, is paid a salary of $300,000, while the five vice-presidents get approximately $150,000 to $250,000 each. Burns came to Langara even after she was the subject of a non-confidence vote from Lethbridge College faculty in 2016, over alleged bullying and spending concerns.
On the other hand, amidst the sweeping cuts, the college has eliminated just 22 of 170+ administrative positions. That represents 13%, compared to nearly 25% of teaching positions cut.
“During the boom of international students of 2015 up until [2024], the administration just ballooned,” according to the interviewed instructor.
Back in 2021, the LFA conducted its own non-confidence motion against Langara's HR department, which passed with a 96% resolution. According to the interviewee, “literally nothing happened after that”.
The instructor says that “the college holds all the cards right now,” as the LFA has lost over a hundred members in a short amount of time due to the cuts.
In their eyes, this change in the balance of power at the college has resulted in a declining quality of education. “Faculty, counsellors, we all [care] about the students, but the administration [doesn't] care.”
Government Funding Cuts
The LFA said in 2024 that “the financial stress on students is so great that Langara College is starting a food bank on campus. It wasn't always like this. When many of us faculty got our degrees, the government covered 70-80% of costs, allowing us to focus on our studies.”
Drastic funding cuts to education in the 2000s have led to a heavier reliance on tuition. Per-student funding has dropped 20% over the last 15 years. With an expected 79% decrease in international students, the college can no longer rely on high international student tuition fees to keep its operation running.
The interviewee explained the college admin's outlook: “If international students got expelled, suspended, or deported, it didn't really matter. It was just about the tuition.”