OrilliaMatters has learned the extent of the pandemic-related layoffs at City Hall.
The city revealed today that 164 city employees received the grim news that their employment has been suspended temporarily. This includes a mix of both full-time and part-time management, union and contract employees.
There is no end date for the layoffs at this time.
The municipality has also put its active recruitments on hold for the time being - including the hiring of summer staff.
The 164 layoffs include the 19 non-unionized employees who were laid off as of April 6.
“City staff have and continue to demonstrate strength, resilience, creativity and an incredible passion for helping the community,” city CAO Gayle Jackson said in an emailed statement to OrilliaMatters today.
“As we continue to deliver critical services to the community and monitor the COVID-19 situation, we hope to return to a full staff complement sooner rather than later. I want to thank all our staff for their hard work, dedication and understanding during these very challenging times.”
On March 31, the city announced it had made the ‘difficult decision’ to lay off staff. That followed the city’s declaration of a state of emergency on March 20.
In a media release issued March 31, it was noted that 19 non-union employees were to be laid off as of Monday, April 6, 2020.
It went on say there are a total of 121 IBEW union positions at the municipality. In accordance with the union agreement, the corporation issued the required 10-day notice of layoffs on March 31.
“The local IBEW Union commits to working with the City of Orillia during these difficult times. We will get through this together,” said Tim Pitts, Business Representative for the IBEW Union.
Since then, the union has worked closely with the city to determine what union employees would be temporarily suspended from employment.
The layoff dates are April 10, 2020 for the Environmental Services and Operations and Parks, Recreation and Culture employee groups, and April 15, 2020 for the Clerical and Technical employee group.
In the March 31 release, Jackson said the city "has incredible employees and temporarily suspending the employment of some of our staff was by no means an easy decision.”
“Like so many businesses, the city is faced with the tough choices of how we operate during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jackson.
Jackson noted the city will continue to provide critical services to the community.
“I want to assure the public we are doing everything we can to respond proactively to these unprecedented times,” Jackson stressed.
She also explained the rationale.
The workload for some city staff during the COVID-19 pandemic “cannot justify continued employment by the municipality at this time, but we are continually monitoring the situation and adapting as necessary.”
Mayor Steve Clarke said the layoffs underline the ‘gravity’ of the situation.
“Our amazing employees are the backbone of the city’s operations and it’s difficult to see anyone temporarily out of work, but it speaks to the gravity of the COVID-19 situation and the difficult decisions that are being made across the entire community,” said Clarke.
“Our main goal is to keep them safe and healthy and get them back to work as soon as responsibly possible.”
