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Laurentian University unions calls for administration to be fired

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Two of Laurentian University's biggest unions along with the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations are calling for senior administrators at the school to be fired.

Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU) and the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) issued a news release through OCUFA on Monday calling for president Robert Haché, vice-president academic and provost Marie-Josée Berger, and registrar Serge Demers to be fired.

The university is currently undergoing massive restructuring at it seeks to emerge from insolvency proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

That process allowed LU to circumvent collective agreements and cut programs and staff of programs with low enrolment. However, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said in a report in March that LU had other options and didn't need to declare insolvency.

LUFA president Fabrice Colin told CTV News the crisis was caused by a lack of transparency and decisions made behind closed doors.

In addition to the termination of senior leadership, the union is calling for robust staffing, a commitment to more open decision-making at Laurentian and the best-possible termination claims for staff who lost their jobs.

"The auditor general clearly established that the CCAA proceedings was totally unnecessary," Colin said.

"It's bittersweet for us when you think about the consequences and what happened to the many staff members."

"Faculty, staff and students have sacrificed much too much in this process," said Gyllian Phillips, the OCUFA chair.

"I think as long as (current administrators) are in place, it's going to be really hard to move forward and build a new community together. The trust has been decimated by this leadership, in particular, so it's going to be a very hard road for everyone in the community of Sudbury to trust in Laurentian again."

"We are ready to move forward, and we hope we can rely on a new, senior leadership team to demonstrate their commitment to open and transparent decision-making in partnership with faculty, staff, students and the Sudbury community," added LUSU president Tom Fenske in a statement.

A draft plan of arrangement in the CCAA process is expected by the end of the week.

CTV Northern Ontario reached out to Laurentian University, which declined to comment. 

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