Results of Position Reassignment Process
To: St. Lawrence Community Members
From: William L. Fox, President
Date: June 9, 2010
Subject: Results of the Position Reassignment Process
I write with a brief update on the position reassignment process for hourly workers, which included filling vacant positions that were not eliminated and “bumping” according to seniority protocols defined by the specific contracts with CSEA and SEIU.
At the end of yesterday, all SEIU employees whose positions have been eliminated were offered another position at St. Lawrence. Some bumping occurred within the SEIU ranks, but all those who were bumped can expect to be employed at St. Lawrence. All SEIU members will be offered employment at St. Lawrence, though some may choose to leave rather than accept one of the positions left open.
Through a combination of retirements, vacancies, and even a special situation of an individual looking to leave the area, the result with CSEA is that the number of staff bumped out of their positions was limited to two people. These two people also have some continuing employment options at St. Lawrence and we have begun to work with them to understand what’s possible.
These good results come from the tireless work of our union leaders to help their members understand options and finding the most good from economic difficulties none of us wish had ever happened.
Last week, we estimated the total number of people leaving St. Lawrence would likely be no more than 12 to 13, despite eliminating 50 positions. I can now say that while the departure of even one person is a very sad outcome, we believe that our departures will be limited to 7 – 9 people, of whom 6 are administrators.
Let me close with a thank you for your patience in this process. Knowing we had a firm deadline of June 2 to communicate our decisions, we are now taking care to shape the services and programs we will offer our students when the semester begins. We will continue regular communication as details evolve.
