Staff at the Red Deer College Bookstore have learned that their jobs will end on July 14.
College President Joel Ward confirmed on Tuesday that it is seeking proposals to run the store from companies that specialize in selling textbooks and other merchandise on campuses across North America, including Follets, Borders and Barnes & Noble.
The 11 college staff affected by the decision will have an opportunity to apply for other positions on campus, as long as they have the qualifications and there is potential that some may be offered jobs with the new contractor, said Ward.
However, those who are unable to transfer to new positions within the college will lose pension benefits and vacation they have built up and will likely see a drop in salary if they go to work for the contractor, said union representative Bruce McLeod.
College staff are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1445. Bookstore wages under the union contract range from $17 to $25 per hour, said McLeod.
“There’s no guarantee that these folks will be hired by this person at all. This is gutting what the employees have got there. Some of the employees have been around there (for) 15 years or so,” he said.
Ward said that, in his experience, wages and benefits offered by contractors at other campus stores in Canada have been comparable to what the bookstore employees at Red Deer college currently earn.
The change comes about as the result of a review of contracted services at the college during the past year, he said.
The bookstore is one area in which a private contractor could offer better services to students than what the college can provide itself, while the income would go directly to the classrooms, said Ward.
Under the terms of its request for proposals, the winning contractor would agree to perform needed upgrades and expand merchandise lines, including installing the technology to sell digital books.
The college estimates the costs of refreshing and renovating its store at $1 million to $2 million, including $750,000 to bring in the technology for selling digital books.
The winning contractor will also have to match or exceed the income of $400,000 per year that the bookstore earns for the college while reducing textbook costs for students by setting up textbook rentals and offering sales of digital books, said Ward.
“The money that the bookstore has made in the past goes directly into our operations to help teaching and learning” he said.
“With the contractor, they have to deliver the same or more money. This has nothing to do with anything other than to do what we need to do using other people’s money and . . . providing better services and offering better prices to our students.”
Stephen Kwasny, president of the Red Deer College Students’ Association, said his organization hasn’t had a chance to research the plan and analyze the potential consequences.
While digital books and rental textbooks save money up front, there is a large volume of texts that students like to keep on their shelves for future reference, including nursing books, said Kwasny.
Jan Valentine, a former bookstore employee now working for CUPE, said she is personally concerned that a private contractor will raise prices of textbooks to cover the costs of meeting the college’s requirements.
“The college is a great place to work. It’s a community within itself. By selling the bookstore, they’re destroying the sense of community. By privatizing it, I’m not sure that atmosphere will be maintained,” said Valentine.
She also expressed concern that the costs of renovating and upgraded the store and services would be borne on the backs of the students.
Janice Wing, chair of the college’s Board of Governors, said contracting of the bookstore is an operational issue and therefore does not require her board’s approval. The board will see a report during its April meeting, said Wing.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com