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The Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency is trimming its workforce.
Interim CEO Vicki Elliott said the Crown corporation is eliminating 32 roles but creating 25 new ones, resulting in a net loss of seven positions.
The changes come as Crown corporations and other government bodies are supposed to be meeting a directive to cut labour costs by three per cent annually, but Elliott said the restructuring announced to staff Tuesday is separate and distinct from that instruction.
“This has never been about a cost-cutting exercise. This is about better service to clients and supporting our employees in the best way to do that,” she said in an interview.
She said planning is underway to meet the directive for a three per cent cut, which she hopes can be accomplished through attrition.
Elliott said the job changes are rooted in the amalgamation of five separate housing authorities into one provincial housing agency, which happened four years ago. Following the merger, Elliott said it became apparent that some work needed to be centralized.
Front-line positions not affected: interim CEO
She said tasks that are being centralized include application processing, and income review and collection. She said it will ensure consistency in decision-making.
“It also frees up our districts to focus on what they need to focus on, which is the day-to-day delivery to the tenants in our units.”
Elliot said none of the impacted positions are on the front line, they are all middle management. She said she encourages anyone impacted to apply for the new positions that are being created.
The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) represents 11 of the affected workers.
NSGEU president Sandra Mullen said she sees the change as nothing but a cut.
“In times such as these where we know we’re in a housing crisis, to see any reduction in any staffing levels in housing — an agency providing this service to Nova Scotians — is going to impact the service without question,” she said in an interview.
Mullen said the unionized positions that are being eliminated are supervisors of client services in rural parts of the mainland and Cape Breton.
Mullen said the agency did not consult with affected workers before deciding to make changes, and should have.
“They are not going to the sources who deliver the services and saying, ‘Where can we find those efficiencies?’ So that’s a No. 1 miss right there,” said Mullen.
“There’s a real disconnect between the leadership and the staff.”
Labour Board process underway
She said the timing of these changes is particularly “distasteful,” because unionized housing agency workers are in the midst of a Labour Board process to narrow down their union representation.
There are five unions representing them — a holdover from when there were five distinct housing authorities — but there is set to be a runoff vote to bring that number down to three or fewer.
Mullen said the process has left workers unable to enter into collective bargaining for the past year. She said their wages have since fallen behind other public sector workers.
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