Another month, another round of SA国际影视传媒渇inding efficienciesSA国际影视传媒 at the GNWT. The most recent comes in the form of eliminating vacant administrative positions at NWT Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA).
These positions form the backbone of our healthcare system and provide crucial services to frontline workers and the public. These positions are often overlooked and underappreciated, making them easy targets for cuts.
The Union of Northern Workers (UNW) has heard from nurses, lab techs, therapists, and other frontline healthcare practitioners that they're losing patient time because they're taking on more and more admin duties while these positions sit empty. This leads to faster burnout and more turnover in a field with already dismal retention rates.
It also means fewer appointments and longer wait times for NWT residents.
Cutting these positions rather than filling them will only make these delays for patients worse, and lead to more frustrations in our healthcare facilities.
If anything, NTHSSA needs to be more aggressive in recruiting and retaining administrative positions to relieve the pressure on other healthcare professionals and free them up to spend more time doing their jobs.
Interestingly, there arenSA国际影视传媒檛 as many vacancies at the senior management level in healthcare. Perhaps one solution to our threadbare healthcare system could be having senior staff step in to cover admin work, rather than passing the burden to frontline workers? I bet the value of those positions would suddenly be much more clear.
And itSA国际影视传媒檚 not just NTHSSA where this is happening. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e hearing about positions disappearing at Aurora College, and other GNWT departments where bargaining unit work is being increasingly contracted out.
For a government that keeps crying poor, the irony in all of this is that a top-heavy public service that cuts out frontline work actually costs more.
NWT residents are paying top dollar to fill boardrooms with senior government staff who seem unable to figure out how to retain frontline workers, despite the fact those very same frontline workers have been consistently telling them what needs to be done.
The solution? Do nothing, it seems, and hope that throwing more money at contract workers will solve all the HR problems the GNWT canSA国际影视传媒檛 be bothered to deal with.
What we are seeing is the gradual privatization of our public service. Indeterminate workers are being pushed out through unmanageable workloads, starving of resources, and senior management that is more concerned with protecting its own.
A stable unionized workforce provides predictability in budgeting and HR planning. Collective agreements lay out approximately how much the public service should cost over the duration of the agreement. Contracting out means being vulnerable to market fluctuations, as the cost of services today could suddenly increase tomorrow.
For example, when positions are harder to recruit and retain, the private agencies that supply contract employees see opportunities for more profit. In jurisdictions like Ontario and Quebec, costs for agency nurses have eaten up health authority budgets at alarming rates. These provinces are cutting other essential services to make up for it.
Providing a positive work environment that attracts new workers and retains experienced employees provides stability for long term planning, consistent delivery of services and, ideally, expansion of programming.
Reducing positions to balance a budget makes for a treacherous path for workers, especially in healthcare, and will further erode a system that is already desperately struggling to provide bare-bones services such as a functioning emergency room at the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 largest hospital.
These reductions also undercut a sector of typically steady, well-paying jobs that feed back into our local economy. Contracting work out to southern companies doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 keep money in the north SA国际影视传媒 and pushing workers out of their jobs doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 keep people in the north either.
Government workers who feel disrespected and underappreciated are packing up and taking their families elsewhere. In a territory where cost of living is becoming increasingly unsustainable, the attitude the GNWT seems to have against its employees is tipping the scales in favour of a mass exodus.
This is already having an impact on our communities.
When schools lose students, their funding is reduced. When organizations lose volunteers, they cut back on the activities and services they offer. When local businesses lose customers, it becomes harder to stay open. When towns lose residents, there is less tax revenue to keep everything else going.
Chipping away at our public service for short term financial gains is a losing strategy for the long-term sustainability of our territory.
There are no programs without people, and Northerners deserve programs designed and delivered by workers who care about their jobs, their communities, and their fellow NWT residents.